Those looking to pen anything from a novel to a script are continuously told they should write what they know. In the case of veteran writer/director Marti Noxon ("Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce"), the subject that is so deadly familiar to her is anorexia. She's taken her own personal battles with weight loss when she was younger and turned them into the subject of "To the Bone," one of the year's most compelling and terrifying films.
It's a popcorn movie if a deadly threat comes in the form of a creature from another world, some type of supernatural being or a mustache-twirling evil genius. There's an evil that must be faced but it's so far from reality, there are no real feelings of danger. What Noxon shows through "To the Bone" is an all-consuming creature that comes from so deep that it even encompasses a person's soul. And unlike those popcorn movie evils, this was is potentially real in every living person.
Noxon's story is told through Ellen (Lily Collins), a 20-year-old artist who has been in a weight loss spiral for years. Her insistence that she's "got in handled" and a blatant negative attitude toward those in charge has gotten her bounced from numerous facilities designed to help her with her eating disorder.
As a last resort, she's taken in at a group home run by a Dr. William Beckham (Keanu Reeves) who has a very unorthodox approach. Instead of trying to correct the problem by forcing patients to change to his thinking, his attack on the problem puts all the emphasis on the patient helping themselves.
Ellen takes this freedom as a way of continuing her obsession to lose weight. She's so determined to be thinner that she spends sleepless nights doing sit-ups in her bed. An invitation to go to dinner is only accepted because she will be able to walk the many miles to the restaurant and burn off more calories.
Surrounding Ellen is an odd mix of others dealing with eating problems. The most boisterous is Luke (Alex Sharp), a ballet dancer who has packed a ton of enthusiasm into his small frame. His hope of returning to the stage has given him the incentive to gain weight and he wants to share that success with Ellen.
As Beckham begins to put together a picture of Ellen's life, it becomes clear that her self-destructive actions are the result of a tumultuous home life best shown through her stepmother, Susan (Carrie Preston). The combination of trying to get help for Ellen and the frustration of all the failures have turned Susan into a verbal machine gun constantly firing off advice and negative comments. Toss in an absentee father and Ellen's life is one of emotional quicksand.
"To the Bone" is heart-wrenching to watch because the battle these people are having is rooted in reality. Collins turns in the best performance of her young career showing Ellen as a woman as determined to push others away as she is to purge herself of food.
The film also features a solid performance by Reeves as the unorthodox doctor. He's made such a memorable career out of playing action heroes and idiots that it's nice to see him in a role like this where he gets to show his acting skills.
Credit Noxon for that because she gets top performance from all her actors. Anything less would not be acceptable because the writer/director is telling a very personal and private story with "To the Bone." Being cautious would have crippled the terrifying realities of this illness and going overboard with the approach would do a disservice to those fighting real battles with weight. Noxon finds the perfect middle.
There's a pure honesty to Noxon's story and direction that makes "To the Bone" a tale of despair and promise, gain and loss, horror and hope.
