Starring Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves, Carrie Preston, Lili Taylor
Rated TV-MA
Reviewed by Ariel Barreras
ABOUT THE MOVIE
A young woman is dealing with anorexia. She meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.
MY REVIEW
Rating: 1/5
This controversial film hit Netflix a couple of weeks ago and people have not stopped talking about it. Because of this, I decided to watch it. I will come right out and say it: I did not like this movie. I immediately understood the controversy surrounding the film. Lily Collins plays Ellen, a girl with anorexia that would rather crack some jokes than eat some food. The movie, while it obviously had some dramatic moments, tried to be funny and quirky at the same time. People who have seen the film did not like that; there is nothing funny about anorexia and the other issues that are dealt with in the film. I did not think that was the problem with the film because I saw this as one person’s story of struggling with anorexia. Everyone is different and if Collins’ character is one that deal with struggles through sarcasm and wit, then go for it.
The issue that I had with this movie is that it was not interesting nor did I understand the plot at times. I do not want to spoil the movie, so I will not get into too much detail, but there is a very specific reason Ellen becomes anorexic and I do not think it was explained well. I did not see how the cause had any connection to the effect. Going back to my other point, the movie is not interesting. Ellen ends up in a treatment house with other people with eating disorders. I thought that there would be some characters that could build off Ellen, but there were none in sight. There is one particular character in the house that had the potential to be a well-rounded character, but she does not stick around long enough.
If you have Netflix already and you are curious, go for it. However, I do not recommend it.