Leaning more to being a comedy than a horror, “Slanted” still would be tough to sell as overall funny. It’s not a feel good comedy. There are no one-liners, no slapstick, no one is playing a bit. The comedy comes situational. At times the humor comes softly, and other times hit hard, really hard. There is a kafka-esque quality to this. Things are bad and they are gonna get worse.  The central humor to this is the teen delusion that-if only I win Prom Queen all my problems go away. A character flaw that lends a chuckle from the start being a form of dramatic irony. To go along with that there is an enduring quality to this film that it projects, which is it brilliantly shows what it is like wholeheartedly being a teen. It’s marvelous on the mannerisms, thoughts as concerns.

It’s understandable that it has been described as “Mean Girls” meets “The Substance” on social media and other platforms, but it’s actually a lot smarter than that.  In fact it has more similarities to Stephen King’s “Carrie” than those films.Assuming that going to see “Slanted” would be a glossy comedic romp mixed with some cheap horror would be a mistake, because surprisingly the film isn’t. It has a tremendous amount to say about, race, identity, immigration, assimilation and culture-namely American culture. There are some serious themes being played out and the tone never follows it. This film is a perfect example of that tone and theme  does not have to match. And the result is a great film that might be in my mid-year top ten. 

When it is really exceeding this the script. It is one of the tightest and most compelling. There is not one wasted line or scene. The exaggeration and outrageousness comes from the characters, not the setting. It is also one of the best edited films of the year so far. It is an ending that we earned viewing and deserved. The only slight minus to the film is where the lead character does her transformation to a blonde white girl and meets her parents for the first time. It is a scene that needed a more emotional punch to it that missed an opportunity to be a really great film. 

“Slanted” feels like a movie we’ve seen before, it’s a mixture of those teen body-switched comedies of the eighties, the teen films of the early 2000’s. There is an element of what is beauty-namely the consensual American sense of beauty. palpable, the driving force of each character in the film is there and it has heart. The themes are deep but overall the film is mainly about the severe and dire consequences of not wanting to be yourself, because there is a deep question being asked in this film. The main character’s motivation is the desire to fit it, or the desire not to stand out. And the answer is-to be yourself no matter how much it hurts.  8.5/10