Crazy Trailer for SLANTED Teases a Body Horror Film That Explores "Ethnic Modification"
The body horror wave isn’t slowing down anytime soon, and now Bleecker Street is throwing another wild entry into the mix with Slanted.
If you’re still reeling from The Substance, buckle up. This one dives straight into beauty standards, high school politics, and racial identity with a sci-fi edge that looks both disturbing and painfully relevant.
The newly released trailer for Slanted introduces us to Joan Huang, a Chinese-American teen who desperately wants what every high school movie has taught us to chase: popularity, acceptance, and the prom queen crown.
But in her world, those goals seem locked behind a very specific look. Joan believes the only way to win is to resemble the blonde girls smiling from the framed prom queen portraits lining her school’s hallways.
That’s where Ethnos comes in. The mysterious cosmetic surgery clinic promises to make people of color appear white. It’s a wild and unsettling concept, and the trailer doesn’t soften it.
Joan signs up, goes through the process, and wakes up transformed into the kind of all-American white blonde she thinks she needs to be. She’s suddenly everything the system rewards. But, of course, this kind of transformation doesn’t come without consequences.
Slanted stars Shirley Chen as Joan, alongside Mckenna Grace, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Elaine Hendrix, and Megan Hayes. Chen carries the emotional weight of the story, playing a girl caught between cultural identity and social survival.
The film blends satire, sci-fi, and full-on body horror to explore how far someone might go to fit into a world that keeps telling them they aren’t enough.
Writer and director Amy Wang makes her feature directorial debut here after working on shorts and episodes of From Scratch and The Brothers Sun. And this story is personal for her. Wang shared:
"My first feature film, Slanted – offers a searing and unapologetically satirical view of race and what it is to be White. At the heart of this movie is a Chinese girl who just wants to feel accepted as an American.
“This is a deeply personal film that digs into your insecurities and exposes the twisted realities of a fractured identity. I have made this movie in the hopes that by exposing my wounds as a Chinese Australian woman, I can help others heal their own self-doubt."
This isn’t just shock for shock’s sake. It’s a pointed commentary on assimilation, internalized racism, and the crushing pressure to conform.
The trailer makes it clear this isn’t a subtle ride. It’s uncomfortable, surreal, and at times straight-up grotesque, but it also asks a question of how much of yourself would you sacrifice just to feel accepted?
Slanted premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival and went on to screen at the Seattle, Sydney, Calgary, and Nashville film festivals. Now Bleecker Street is set to release the film in select U.S. theaters starting March 13, 2026.
