Sugar Rot is nothing short of a cinematic sucker punch.
The film creeps up on you with its punk rock take on body horror through the lens of an unwanted pregnancy, when a young woman – Candy (Chloë MacLeod) is sexually assaulted by a bizarre ice cream delivery man. It’s not consensual, but that’s part of director Becca Kozak’s strategy here to drain any and all romanticism from conception, to allow the film to view the pregnancy objectively in all its horror. It’s something admittedly as a male I will never personally experience, but after this film I feel like I have a whole new understanding, fear and respect for those who endure it.
Without getting too deep into spoilers; Ice Cream somehow is involved in the assault and it begins to mutate Candy’s body and whatever is growing inside of her. This allows Kozak to really dig into how much a woman’s body changes to accommodate the new life growing inside of them. Candy also begins to secrete a sugary substance as a symptom and this acts as yet another layer of metaphor, as both men and women who both can sense her nonconsensual sexual awakening. It’s something that’s masterfully illustrated even given the film’s very DIY aesthetic.
Sugar Rot is as transgressive as it is thought provoking with performances that for the most part work in the film’s favor. Leading lady Chloë MacLeod turns in a fearlessly rebellious and somewhat empathetic take – as she faces the collapse of self that is giving birth. It’s a kind of nihilism I didn’t expect, but thanks to Candy’s journey I feel like I understand it — after all once a child is born she is no longer an independent entity, but a mother that has another creature dependent on you. Simply stated Sugar Rot is a feminist Cronenbergian classic – saying the things only a woman can say about their bodies, in a way that retakes agency over our societies complex relationship over something that doesn’t belong to us in the first place.
Sugar Rot presents the question: what if Julia Ducournau made a Troma film? Amongst the gratuitous nudity, numerous sexual assaults and practical effects cum shots, it’s a film that because of its extreme nature can dig into motherhood with a raw truth, that might offend and upset most with its realistic modern approach. Motherhood isn’t easy, it’s not for everyone much like Sugar Rot. The film is a singular call to arms that really affected me personally with its no holds barred take that literally shook me to my core. I personally think it perfectly imbues the current vibe of saying no to motherhood, not just for financial reasons, but because it’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.
