To The Bone

UK Release Date. 14 July 2017
Certification. 15 
Running Time. 1 hour 47 mins
Director. Marti Noxon
Cast. Leslie Bibb, Lily Collins, Rebekah Kennedy, Liana Liberato, Carrie Preston, Keanu Reeves, Alex Sharp, Lili Taylor.
Rating. 56%

Review.

It is estimated that 1.25 million people in the UK suffer from an eating disorder (and the estimates are as high as 30 million people in the United States). Yet, it would appear that the subject of eating disorders is a taboo subject for mainstream filmmakers. I can think of very few, if any, stand-out films that address this issue.

To The Bone garnered widespread acclaim at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival but was pilloried by a wider audience for glorifying and glamorising the disease, anorexia nervosa.

The opening title screen of To The Bone warns the audience,

"This film was created by and with individuals who have struggled with eating disorders, and it includes realistic depictions that may be challenging for some viewers."

To The Bone is, indeed, a difficult watch - both unsettling and unsparing. The film doesn't shy away from the physical consequences of the disorder - not just the weight loss, but the other manifestations, and the way the body shuts down in response to the disease.

To The Bone's writer and director, Marti Noxon based the film's storyline on her own experience of the illness. Noxon was supported in the project by Lily Collins, who herself has spoken in the past about her struggles with eating disorders. I do question the morality of Collins' involvement, in particular, how much weight she must have lost for the role. 

Collins plays Ellen, a young artist dealing with the disease. She is shipped from doctor to doctor until she meets the unconventional Dr. Beckham (Keanu Reeves). Here the film flounders. To The Bone defaults to sexist, shallow, gender clichés - the doctor is a man, the nurse is a woman. The adult women in Ellen's life (her stepmother, her mother and her mother's partner) are all self-obsessed and egotistical. The one male patient, Luke, is strong, wise and selfless in a way none of the female patients are.

Worse still is the film's climactic dream sequence. The 'rock-bottom' epiphany is meant to deliver clarity, but instead is a bizarre mess of bright lights and sun-bleached deserts. The sequence is confusing, hopelessly muddying the suggestively redemptive finale. 

To The Bone might mean well - addressing a subject matter that many would avoid - but with a topic this important, that's simply not good enough. Noxon and Collins should be, in-part, applauded for bringing the subject to the fore, but does that in itself assuage criticism? I would argue no, especially when it may be construed that the film is an irresponsible portrayal of those suffering from the disease, and one that does little to address mainstream stereotypes.