Podcast: Vannah Taylor on ‘Spoonful of Sugar’

With so much darkness surrounding us these days, it's not hard to sympathize with audiences who seek out more black-and-white depictions of morality in their horror movies. Even so, there's something undeniably satisfying about grappling with a film like Spoonful of Sugar, filmmaker Mercedes Bryce Morgan's uncomfortable exploration of all things taboo. But at least we have a good guide on our journey of discomfort: film critic Vannah Taylor, who, in her writing about rape-revenge movies, proves herself no strange to the tough watch.

After bouncing around foster homes for much of her life, things are finally coming together for Milicent (Morgan Saylor). Her therapy treatments – which now involve microdoses of LSD – are showing good signs of progress, and she even has a well-paying job as a nanny to Johnny (Danilo Crovetti), the nonverbal child of a local author. But as Milicent entrenches herself further in the lives of her new clients, she learns that her ward might have a dark side that mirrors her own. If she can harness Johnny’s potential, then Milicent and Johnny might be the only family each other will ever need.

In this short excerpt from the episode, Taylor explains why films like Spoonful of Sugar challenge their audiences to step outside the comfort of their own morality:

"This is something that's really playing with the moral compass of all its of its characters. Not just the babysitter, but the mom and the dad and the kids — every character, even the therapist. I feel weird about everyone in this film. And so I feel like you have to be really open to anything."

The Spoonful of Sugar episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast with Vannah Taylor is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, or the podcast platform of your choice.