"Slanted:" Blonde Dreams, Broken Mirrors

Last year, an unassuming yet powerful film in the Narrative Feature competition became the talk of the town at South by Southwest 2025. First time director, Amy Wang set out to make a project that spoke to the harrowing experience of being an adolescent person of color in the United States, through the medium of body horror. Over a year later, that film is finally available to watch in theaters. That film is called Slanted, a funny yet heartbreaking feature about conformity that is like nothing you have ever seen before...

Slanted follows teenager, Joan Huang. Having immigrated to the United States from China when she was young, Joan comes from a family deeply connected to their culture. Having grown up in the United States, Joan feels out-of-place in a school full of stereotypical blonde white women, longing to be one of them. In an attempt to become popular and fulfill her lifelong dream of winning Prom Queen, Joan seeks out a surgery to change her ethnicity from Chinese to white. But the logistics of this procedure are far from perfect, leading to some pretty sevre side effects. Slanted is the directorial debut of Amy Wang, who also wrote and produced the film. It also features the acting talents of Shirley Chen, Mckenna Grace, Elaine Hendrix, Vivian Wu, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.

Slanted features a lot of comedy, but at its core it is a deeply heartbreaking film, showcasing the harsh reality that millions of immigrants have lived through in the United States. As a white person born in the US, I almost feel unqualified to be talking about it, but I really want to call attention to this incredible, emotionally-resonant film.

The dominant culture in the US has always been the "white American." Young girls throughout the country aspire to this image of perfection, being thin, blonde-haired, blue eyed, and fair skinned. This is an unrealistic standard for the vast majority of people regardless of race. But what about the kids who grow up, seeing the beauty standard be someone who looks nothing like them? What are the little girls with darker skin or slanted eyes supposed to think of themselves?

Amy Wang's Slanted does a fantastic job at putting the audience in the shoes of a young girl faced with this impossible standard. I felt an intense empathy for Joan, who had to make the choice between what she wants and who she is. Even if you're a white audience member like myself, we can all relate to the plight of wishing we could change something about ourself whether that be internal or external. This is first and foremost, a movie for the underrepresented Asian women of the world, but everyone will be able to find something relatable in it, regardless of identity.

Slanted goes from a unique coming-of-age movie to a body horror flick in the third act, climaxing in the final shot that will make anyone's stomach churn. I can't help but wish that Amy Wang and company leaned more into the body horror aspect. Slanted has the perfect story to really push the boundaries, I just wish they explored their options more. That being said, the twist ending is extraordinarily well done.

Shirley Chen and Mckenna Grace both give great performances as Joan and her white counterpart, Jo. Sometimes it is hard to see the two as the same character. Perhaps the best performances come from Joan's parents, played by Vivian Wu and Fang Du. They are the heartbeat of this movie through their unrelenting commitment to their culture, something their daughter wants to get as far away from as possible. They are both great foil characters to Chen's Joan. So much storytelling in this film is environmental, so I simply cannot write about this film without praising the production design by Ying-te Julie Chen and art direction by Kristen Jenkins.

Slanted is not only well-made and profoundly emotional, it's also educational for all Americans who grew up like me. Never worrying about how people would treat me based on my race, if my lunch or accent would get made fun of, and always seeing people who looked like me on TV or billboards. I recommend Slanted not only for those who get the subject matter, but especially for those who don't. Let's just say, Amy Wang has my full attention for her next feature.