Dir. Mercedes Bryce Morgan | Now Streaming On: Shudder | Rating: 4/5

The synopsis of this movie alone sold me – “disturbed babysitter experiences a sexual awakening while using LSD to treat a sick child.” How much farther off base can we get than that? Tongue in cheek melodrama at its finest, A Spoonful of Sugar is a twisted “good-for-her” horror, from every single angle. ⁠
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Have I reviewed a true psychosexual horror on my blog yet? In recent years, my horror viewing companion is my 50 year old father in law, so psychosexual horror isn’t exactly at the top of our buddy watchlist. As a teen, I was a fan of Fatal Attraction, Fear (starring Marky Mark of course), and Blue Velvet. But as I’ve come to learn more about the subgenre, I find that these films too often dip into a weird “extreme horror” category that I personally can’t stomach. However, Spoonful of Sugar is a much more digestible addition to this subgenre. ⁠
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This film is loaded with religious imagery, from apples to goat horns. We watch two seemingly innocent characters, the naïve Millie and the sheltered Johnny, unravel into absolute monstrosities. Just when you think this film can’t get weirder, it does. Though not outwardly gory or bloody, this film is disgusting. ⁠
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It shoves the topics of fetishization and sex to the forefront and forces us to look at them. We are have to reconcile with the animalistic and intrusive parts of ourselves that are hidden just below the surface. What may be so uncomfortable about this film is that you are bound to see yourself somewhere in this cast. This film utilizes a trope I’ve coined as “ugly characters.” Even if a character is objectively “good,” all you need to do is scratch the surface and the real horror comes out. ⁠
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A Spoonful of Sugar also comments on the reality of being neuroatypical in a world that wasn’t built for you and lengths we go to cover up our flaws. Darkly funny and riddled with twists, the only thing that this was lacking was more diversity in its casting and this would’ve been a 5 for me. ⁠
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Know Before You Watch: Features nudity, sex, blood, mention of CSA. ⁠