To the Bone (2017)
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A young woman struggling with anorexia enters a specialized patient program to seek recovery.
The story
Ellen is a 20-year-old college dropout dealing with anorexia who returns home after failing to make progress in an in-patient program. Her stepmother, Susan, arranges for her to join a specialist, Dr. William Beckham, and his patient program. Reluctant at first, Ellen is persuaded by her younger half-sister, Kelly, to participate. She moves into a house with six other patients, including Luke, an upbeat ballet dancer near recovery. As Ellen begins to bond with the others and makes headway in her journey, she faces the internal and external challenges of her condition while navigating new relationships within the house.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Ellen, a 20-year-old college dropout with anorexia, returns home after an unsuccessful in-patient program. Her stepmother, Susan, places her in Dr. William Beckham's patient program. There, Ellen meets Luke, a ballet dancer who becomes a moral cheerleader and fan of her art. During the program, it is revealed that Ellen's mother abandoned her years ago and that Ellen's past artwork on Tumblr influenced a girl who died by suicide. Ellen begins to bond with the other patients, changing her name to Eli, but panics when Luke admits he is falling in love with her. After learning that another patient, Megan, miscarried her baby due to purging, Eli decides to leave. Luke begs her to stay, revealing his own permanent knee injury prevents him from dancing. Near death, Eli visits her mother, who suggests a bizarre method of feeding her with a bottle to address their mutual postpartum depression. After a hallucinatory experience where Luke gives her a piece of coal representing courage, Eli decides to return home, embrace her family, and continue Beckham's program.
- First release year
- 2017
- Runtime (minutes)
- 108
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Marti Noxon
- Writers
- Marti Noxon · writer; Marti Noxon · director
- Cast and characters
- Lily Collins · Ellen; Keanu Reeves · Dr. William Beckham; Carrie Preston · Susan; Lili Taylor; Alex Sharp; Liana Liberato; Ciara Bravo · Tracy; Brooke Smith
- Genres
- drama
- Themes
- Eating disorders; Recovery; Family dynamics; Identity
- Tone and mood
- Empathetic; Insightful; Controversial
- Premise and plot tags
- Drama; Medical; Character Study
- Source material / true-story basis
- Marti Noxon's experiences with the eating disorder
- Content notes
- Eating disorders
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, praised for its empathetic look and Lily Collins' performance, though it faced backlash for being potentially triggering and for allegedly glamorizing anorexia.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 70% · review count: 66; Metacritic · score: 64 · scale: 100 · review count: 14
- Production trivia
- Lily Collins reportedly lost around 20lbs for the role.; Marti Noxon's feature directorial debut.; The film was based on Noxon's personal experiences with an eating disorder.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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