‘Slanted’ Review – Body Horror Meets Racial Commentary In This Coming-Of-Age Dark Comedy [SXSW 2025]

Moving through the world as a person of color can be challenging and feel downright impossible at times. In the coming-of-age dark comedy Slanted, an Asian American teenager with the dream of becoming her school’s prom queen undergoes a radical transformation to be deemed acceptable and beautiful by American societal standards.

Since childhood, Joan Huang (Shirley Chen) has dreamed of becoming Prom Queen. In her mostly white, primarily conservative town, it’s the ultimate symbol of beauty and acceptance. When she stumbles upon a mysterious procedure that will change her racial makeup, she jumps at the opportunity. After the procedure is seemingly successful, she rebrands herself as Jo Hunt (McKenna Grace). She’s finally accepted by the school’s vain and vicious queen bee, Olivia (Amelie Zilber), who decides to support Jo’s prom queen campaign. Jo soon discovers her new appearance isn’t all she thought it would be. It alienates her from her parents and her heritage, and, when her original face begins to reassert itself, her new reality is likely to go up in flames.

Slanted is a satirical but serious coming-of-age film that explores the struggles of growing up with feelings that being white is the only way you’ll succeed in the world. Many people of color face this insecurity especially when growing up in spaces in which they are one of the few, if not the only, minority. Joan’s journey will resonate with people from all walks of life who’ve ever felt different and othered.

Shirley Chen is a talented young actress whose journey as Joan is moving and emotional. She just wants to fit in and feel beautiful. She just wants the boy she has a crush on to notice her. She just wants the people in town to smile at her when she’s walking down the street instead of staring at her with contempt and unease. Chen realistically conveys Joan’s longing and desperation for acceptance. The film doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable moments and micro-aggressions Joan faces. There’s one scene in particular when Olivia and her friend Greta (Sarah Kopkin) invite Joan to get manicures with them. As it turns out, they only wanted her to tag along to serve as a translator. Even after Joan realizes this was their intention in inviting her, she still begs the owner to accommodate them. There’s another scene in which her father’s client, Harmony (Elaine Hendrix) condescends to Joan and makes racist comments as Joan fills in for her father when he is too injured to run his cleaning business. Again, these moments are uncomfortable, but an example of the reality many Asian Americans, and people of color in general, face in their day-to-day lives.

McKenna Grace’s portrayal of Joan’s post-surgery persona, Jo, is just as thrilling and entertaining as Chen’s. The character has literally reinvented herself, and while she gets the acceptance and approval she has always craved, she has done so at the cost of her heritage, her parent’s approval, and the real friendships she had before. McKenna gets many heavy moments as Jo deals with the emotional and mental fallout of her actions as well as the body horror aspects.

The rest of the cast is just as talented as the two leads. Fang Du as Joan’s father, Roger, has a standout performance here. He just wants the best for his child, and deep down, feels guilty for moving her into an environment that made her feel she isn’t good enough or pretty enough to exist as she is. R. Keith Harris as Willie, the sinister head of the organization offering the race-altering procedure plays the character as a peaceful and kind guru whose friendly nature is undercut by the emotional and mental manipulation he carries out. Amelie Zilber’s Olivia could have easily been a one-note mean girl, but a twist adds surprising layers to the character. Without spoiling too much, she and her father can relate to everything Joan/Jo is going through on a personal level.

Slanted is a creative and entertaining blend of body horror and racial commentary. Audiences will find the film just as enlightening as it is entertaining.

Slanted held its World Premiere as part of the Narrative Feature section of the 2025 SXSW TV & Film Festival. The film won the Grand Jury Award for the Narrative Feature section. 

Director: Amy Wang

Screenwriter: Amy Wang

Rated: NR

Runtime: 102m