To The Bone-Short Review

On the twenty seventh of January this year Netflix released a new original film entitled ‘to the bone’. The film targets a twenty two year old girl named Ellen, played by lily Collins, who suffers from anorexia. It follows her journey to recovery, however encounters some of the tragic milestones someone with her condition can often face along the way.

We start off by learning that Ellen’s family isn’t exactly the conventional desperate housewives American set up we all imagine but can actually be rather dysfunctional to say the least. She lives with her father’s girlfriend and her younger sister Kelly. Ellen’s mother lives with and is engaged to another women who finds it difficult to be around or visit Ellen due to the severity of her condition. Dr Williams, played by Keanu Reeves has regular appointments with her and begins to see cracks in the road to her recovery and suggests some untraditional rules. The first being to refer her into in patient care, allowing her eating habits and lifestyle choices to be monitored more closely and professionally. At this point we are introduced to the other patients inside the house, which is hard hitting yet humorous as they’re personality traits are so diverse and unique. Amongst them lies a young boy named Ben who is played by Alex Sharp who suffers from bulimia and really isn’t afraid to make fun of himself. We witness his instant attraction to Ellen form the moment she walks into the house we know that they’re relationship is bound to blossoms throughout the duration of the film

Initially Ellen doesn’t fit in great and struggles with mealtimes and communicating with anyone. As a result of this those around her begin to notice the increase in her deterioration. Of course her doctor does too, who also picks up on her newly developed care free attitude and really has a hard time persuading Ellen to ‘see the point’ in not allowing herself to die, as it is obvious at this point due to her appearance that she’s heading that way and could be fatal is she doesn’t change soon.

As an audience we begin to see the rawness and the heart breaking effects of the illness and soon forget the comedy aspect of the film entirely. This contrasting genre happens fast and hits hard, which, as a filming technique works really well.

The night following Ellen’s appointment with Dr Williams she dreams of waking up in a desert, sitting in a tree looking down on her broken and brutally malnourished body. Then she realises that she is actually looking at her corpse.

Something triggers Ellen at this point as she wakes up, an epiphany almost. This sparks a monumental change in both her attitude towards her illness but also her livelihood. Towards the end of the film she is released from her in patient care and is sent home to continue with the progress she is making towards full recovery, which she is well on the way to as the film comes to an end. Overall the film was an honest insight inti the illness and also makes it very clear just how important communication and seeking help when in need of it really is.