USA TODAY International Edition
‘ To the Bone’ anorexia drama cuts close
Co- creator Noxon’s film mirrors her personal struggle
PARK CITY, UTAH Two years after Me and Earl and the Dying
Girl won top prizes at Sundance, the festival is back with another quirky coming- of- age dramedy about an ailing teen.
Trading in cancer for anorexia, the evocatively titled To the Bone finds dark humor and pathos in 20- year- old Ellen’s ( Lily Collins) umpteenth treatment stint, due in part to the likable group of eating- disorder patients she’s housed with in suburban Los Angeles. Whether UnReal co- creator Marti Noxon’s deeply personal film catches on quite like Earl remains to be seen, although it stands a decent shot after earning largely supportive reactions out of Sunday’s world premiere.
Bone, which is still seeking a U. S. distributor, was inspired by Noxon’s own struggles with anorexia as a young woman. So when Collins, who also overcame an eating disorder as a teenager, met Noxon, “I thought I had met my soul sister,” Collins, 27, said during an audience Q& A. “To have the opportunity to step back into something that, 10 years later, I’ve moved on from is terrifying, but at the same time, the hugest honor. I knew it was something I needed to do for myself.”
After signing on, Collins had just over a month to lose weight before Bone went into production. “It was a very fast process, but nothing felt incredibly unhealthy,” said the actress, who was closely monitored by a medical team as she dropped an unspecified amount of pounds. “I was held accountable for any actions that went a little too far or in any way were red flags, but I was very adamant that this not be that kind of experience for me. This ( movie) is about healing and is a form of therapy for me.”
All of the young actresses playing eating- disorder patients “made their own decisions of how they wanted to approach the character,” Noxon said.
British actor Alex Sharp — who plays the treatment facility’s sole male patient and Ellen’s love interest — also lost weight. But “what’s interesting about that is none of us were too concerned that he was going to get stuck there,” Noxon added. “I think that says a lot about how much pressure there is on women to look a certain way.”
As anyone familiar with her other TV work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce would know, Noxon’s writing stands out for its sharp wit and bluntness.
In Bone, for example, Ellen’s doctor ( Keanu Reeves) tells her to “grow a pair” and stop fishing for pity from others — an experience that Noxon pulled from her own life.
“I hope people recognize that people who have trouble with eating, body- image problems and anything on the spectrum are not weak, and it’s not that they are vain or lazy or obsessing for no reason,” Noxon said. “It’s a whole host of problems and everybody ( makes progress) in a different way. That worked for me. I needed to grow a pair, I needed to hit bottom. I needed to decide to live for myself.”