Cannes 2026 Unveils French Body Horror Sanguine

Sanguine, an upcoming body horror film by French filmmaker Marion Le Coroller, will oversee a Midnight Screenings debut at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. The film (English title: Species) stars Karin Viard, Mara Taquin, Kim Higelin, Sami Outalbali, Stefan Crepon and Sonia Faidi, and is reportedly set around a mysterious mutation.

The film centres on a medical student working in the ER who notices a strange mutation taking patients down, and a new mutation begins to affect her too.

Le Coroller’s feature debut came from a goal of telling “….a story about bodies forced to change, to evolve and adapt to a very toxic and demanding workplace,” as she shared with Deadline. The film was written by Le Coroller and Thomas Pujol, with the crucial element of makeup effects being handled by Pierre-Olivier Persin, whose references include an Academy Award for his work on Coralie Fargeat’s social body horror The Substance.

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As a fitting segway, horror buffs on X have wasted no time in drawing parallels between Sanguine and other (feminist) body horror releases such as The Substance and Julie Ducournau’s Raw, both of which Le Coroller referenced as sources of inspiration for her work, as well as Ducournau’s Titane, The Ugly Stepsister by Emilie Blichfeldt and the 2002 French body horror drama Dans ma peau (In My Skin).

“They are both very inspiring women. I think French female directors are very politically engaged,” the director added. “Talking about bodies and offering a new way to look at them is a game-changer. It’s very important that us, women, take this responsibility.”

It seems we are in a new era of women-oriented body horror.

Carole Lambert is credited as producer, with Guillaume Schiffman working on cinematography and Anne-Sophie Delseries as art director.

After its 14th May release date at Cannes, Sanguine will be released in France on October 28th, with additional region release dates to be announced.

About the Author

Ros Tibbs

Editor

Ros is a film and lit graduate writing news and reviews at The People's Magazine. She also writes long-form film theory, film history, analytical or curated recommendations pieces on other platforms.

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