The Sweetest, Sickest Cinema You’ll See This Year

MOVIE REVIEW
Sugar Rot
-     

Genre: Horror
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 20m
Director(s): Becca Kozak
Writer(s): Becca Kozak
Cast: Chloë Macleod, Drew Forster, Michela Ross, Charles Lysne, Tyson Storozinski, Heather Perluzzo
Where to Watch: shown at the 2025 Fantasia Film Festival

RAVING REVIEW: What happens when rebellion melts into horror and rage gets mixed into something unnervingly sweet? SUGAR ROT explodes onto the screen with all the subtlety of a Molotov cocktail in a candy store. This is body horror with purpose, satire soaked in syrup and spiked with venom — a film that dares to look obscene, feel grotesque, and shout back at every force trying to control the female body.

Directed, written, edited, and co-produced by Becca Kozak, SUGAR ROT is the kind of debut that doesn’t just suggest promise — it demands you sit down, shut up, and pay attention. Made on a reported $10,000 budget, the film delivers more personality, guts (kind of literally), and bite than most productions twenty times its size. It doesn't apologize for the discomfort it creates — if anything, it's fueled by it.

At the center of this grotesque confection is Candy, played with conviction by Chloë Macleod (who co-starred in another of my favorite Fantasia films this year). After a surreal assault at an ice cream shop, Candy begins to mutate into something with a parasitic fetus inside her that has more in common with consumerist nightmares than human biology. The transformation is as absurd as it is disturbing, but that’s precisely the point. Kozak’s film doesn’t deal in realism — it traffics in rage.

Beneath the candy colors and punk soundtrack is a scathing commentary on bodily autonomy and the commodification of women. Candy’s changing form becomes a metaphor for how society treats femininity as a consumable product — sexualized, dehumanized, and discarded when no longer “palatable.” This is especially potent in scenes where Candy is viewed less as a person and more as a curiosity, a fetish object, or a source of profit.

Visually, the film is as loud as its themes. The look has a deliberate grit, with smeared makeup, dripping goo, and off-kilter production design that matches the unhinged tone. The special effects, managed by Deb Graffenstyne and done with passion, are both impressive and revolting, embracing the kind of practicality that has long been the mark of underground horror.

SUGAR ROT owes a clear debt to exploitation icons like Troma and John Waters, with flashes of Herschell Gordon Lewis (even getting a name drop) and even early Cronenberg. But this isn’t homage for homage’s sake — Kozak isn’t just referencing; she’s resurrecting the angry, trashy spirit of those movements and injecting them with a contemporary, feminist purpose. This isn’t a film content with shock — it wants you to ask why you’re shocked, and what that says about the culture we live in.

That said, this isn’t a film that will work for everyone — and it shouldn’t. The content is provocative and intentionally confrontational. It opens with a depiction of assault that, while absurd in its execution, is still rooted in real-world trauma. For some viewers, the blend of humor, horror, and satire in those moments may not always strike the right tone. But Kozak’s intentions are crystal clear: she’s not exploiting pain, she’s flipping the camera back onto the systems that do.

The sound design and punk rock soundtrack play a vital role in making SUGAR ROT feel alive and abrasive. With contributions from acts like Daddy Issues and Dayglo Abortions, the music does more than set a mood — it becomes Candy’s unspoken scream, her fight song as she begins to push back against the forces trying to consume her (for real.)

SUGAR ROT feels homemade in the best way: like something that crawled out of a filmmaker’s subconscious, unfiltered and unwilling to be tamed. Every frame bears Kozak’s signature, from the punk-paint aesthetic to the metaphor-laced horror.

I shouldn’t be a fan of this film—by all accounts, it’s built from the very things I usually avoid. Body horror ranks low on my genre list, and I’ve never been drawn to movies that lean too hard into being “artsy” for the sake of it. But somehow, SUGAR ROT burrows in and sticks in your mind. There’s something undeniably addictive about it—maybe it’s the unapologetic weirdness, perhaps it’s the way it takes its punk ethos seriously, or maybe it’s just how confidently it delivers something wholly its own. Whatever the reason, like a forbidden treat, it’s the kind of film you don’t expect to crave, but once you’ve had a taste, it drives you.

Macleod anchors the chaos with a performance that ranges from feral to vulnerable. Her portrayal of Candy never veers into victimhood; even in the moments when her body betrays her, her spirit refuses to. SUGAR ROT isn’t the kind of horror film that slips into genre conversations. It forces its way in — sticky, creamy, screaming, and impossible to ignore. It’s a DIY horror declaration of war on the systems that dehumanize women, and it does so with boldness, bile, and a punk heart pumping beneath every sugary eruption. It’s a film with bite and bark — and it doesn’t care if it ruins your appetite. This one isn’t for the squeamish — but if you’re ready to be disturbed, provoked, and maybe even inspired, it’s worth every sticky second.

Please visit https://linktr.ee/overlyhonestr for more reviews.

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. My social media accounts can also be found on most platforms by searching for 'Overly Honest Reviews'.

I’m always happy to hear from my readers; please don't hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.

[photo courtesy of SUGAR ROT PRODUCTIONS]

DISCLAIMER:
At Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.

Amazon Affiliate Links:
Additionally, this site contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may receive a commission. This affiliate arrangement does not affect our commitment to honest reviews and helps support our site. We appreciate your trust and support in navigating these links.