Dark disorder

The biggest lie people struggling with an eating disorder tell is “I got it under control.” That’s the straight-faced, self-deluded lie that Ellen (Lily Collins), the main character of Netflix-produced drama To the Bone, tells her stepsister (Liana Liberato). Clearly, after four expensive treatment programs and a weight that’s ever-dropping, Ellen doesn’t have anorexia under control. To the Bone uses gallows humor and nuanced sensitivity to explore how much an eating disorder controls its victims.

Ellen doesn’t know if she can ever recover. The 20-year-old artist has played the recovery game for so long that her distraught mother (Lili Taylor) kicks her out. Her well-meaning stepmother (Carrie Preston) then procures a bed for her at Threshold, a seven-patient facility in Los Angeles run by an eating disorder specialist (Keanu Reeves) who uses unorthodox treatment methods. There, surrounded by young housemates who struggle with various eating disorders and life issues, Ellen struggles to regain desire—and hope—for life.

It’s not easy to make eating disorder patients relatable to people who have never suffered from this twisted, irrational illness that robs typically smart and reasonable individuals of the most basic function of a human being: eating. Writer/director Marti Noxon, who once almost died from anorexia, understands the lunacy of eating disorders very well and doesn’t try to sanitize it.

Her characters teach each other the easiest food to barf out, proudly state the number of times they’ve been in treatment programs, and discuss the body shape of actress Emma Stone. Collins, who also recovered from anorexia, displays the torments of an anorexic’s obsessions and guilt and self-hatred without sacrificing the sharp wit and introspection of her character.

To the Bone is not an easy movie to watch. It’s downright depressing and, for people who still struggle, can be triggering with its graphic scenes of protruding rib cages and sunken stomachs. But the movie serves as a limited but illuminating window into the hidden dungeons of their dark, dirty battles.