‘Slanted’ Review: The Next Must-See Horror Film

Mckenna Grace embodies the soul of Shirley Chen in the hilarious, horrific, picture Slanted! Read our Slanted review. For my first time at SXSW, this was a fantastic start to the festival!

This review may contain spoilers for Slanted.

The movie follows Joan, an Asian-American who goes through a procedure to change her race from Chinese to white. Although Slanted begins with star Shirley Chen (Dìdi), it quickly becomes Mckenna Grace’s (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) adventure as we get through the film. But as Joan’s face starts to melt due to a side effect, the rest of the plot starts to melt together into a beautiful commentary on class and culture.

The film also stars Vivian Wu, Amelie Zilber, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever) as Joan’s mother, Olivia, and Brindha; respectively. Joan and her friends are the highlights of the film, delivering complex performances as the various characters struggle with Joan’s decision to change her race. It’s absolutely crazy how far Joan puts in effort to hate on herself, and it’s heartbreaking to watch her progress into a life of regret throughout the film.

Slanted bears most resemblance to Sebastian Stan and A24’s recent film, A Different Man, another comical horror movie about the main character suffering from a disfigured face and the dymorphia that comes with that. Unlike A Different Man, Slanted focuses more on how race impacts society and the implications of people of color always standing out. The film was overall a brilliant read on modern society, and feels kind of like an unofficial sequel to A Different Man.

Slanted was written and directed by Amy Wang and stars Shirley Chen, Mckenna Grace, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Amilie Zilber, and Vivian Wu. The film just premiered at SXSW 2025 and will be coming to theaters soon.

Thank you for reading this Slanted review, for more articles like this, stay tuned for rest of our coverage at SXSW 2025.