A weirdly affective body horror comedy that expresses Asian themes.
“Slanted” is the latest in a series of race satires to fight against racism by using a magical realism. There was “Sorry to Bother You,” which had LaKeith Stanfield as a black man using a white voice on the phone. And there was the awful “American Society of Magical Negroes,” which had black people trying to make white people comfortable.
The only difference is that “Slanted” fights against Asian racism, as the main heroine Joan Huang (Shirley Chen from “Didi”) is a Chinese American teenager, who can’t find popularity at her high school due to her race. Her best and only friend is Brindha (Maitreyi Ramakirshnan), who is of Tamil decent, and her idol is the social media influencer Olivia Hammond (Amelie Zilber), who is a racist. Being the teenager wanting acceptance, she undergoes an irreversible procedure that could transform her into a white girl here in the form of McKenna Grace.
That’s the set-up for “Slanted,” and even though it leaves me in question about certain elements, I still think it has a voice about acceptance. It’s also a body horror comedy that doesn’t go for the gore and drugs of “The Substance,” but likes to delicately take its time in the main heroine’s conversion. And as a coming-of-age movie, she has a lot to convert within herself.
Here’s what leads her to the change-up. Her mother is a traditional Chinese woman who wants her to embrace her family’s heritage, while her father is a janitor working for the rich and mean Harmony (Elaine Hendrix). Joan wants to be voted Prom Queen and wants to confine Olivia to endorse her. So, she starts dying her hair blonde and getting the racist and her friends a discount at a Chinese salon.
But it’s not enough.
When is it enough?
When Joan travels to an eccentric clinic called “Ethnos,” which could alter her skin fragmentation and make her look like and sound like a white girl. That’s when. The clients and doctors were of various races (and a training video has an ethnic man being transformed into a white man marrying into a racist family and saying: “I hope we don’t have kids.”)
There are some funny moments, like how Olivia and her friends are in perfect sync in the cafeteria, as they get their salads in their glass Tupperwares and pour their dressings on them.
And with every experimental surgery, there are always side effects. Think it like the face peel scene in “Poltergeist” merging with the body changes of “The Substance.”
Of course, we can tell that that “irreversible” procedure is untrue. But I don’t want to spoil how. I can spoil for you that it’s a good movie that likes to explore the themes of acceptance and what racism does to people, which in this case are Asian people. Throughout this movie, the white Joan is arguing with her parents saying: “I had to do this procedure,” “I want to be accepted,” and “I finally belong!” And throughout this movie, her new appearance forces her to turn against other people of ethnicity, including her former best friend.
Other than a final moment between Joan and Brindha, there isn’t much of a pay-off, and doesn’t want anything redeeming within. And as a white girl, she does have to act like a child when her parents take away her iPhone for coming home late, and when she has to lie to them regarding something that costs her father’s job. But it does lead to what could make the main heroine learn about herself. Can she accept herself for who she is or who she was? And will her new appearance be her new identity?
That’s for the movie to know and for you to find out. But on both sides of the coin, Chen and Grace are both very good adapting to such a girl with the right display of emotions and themes. It’s not an easy satire to watch, but it does like to speak its mind and maybe gross us out a bit.