To the Bone (film)

To the Bone is a 2017 American drama film, written and directed by Marti Noxon and starring Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves, Carrie Preston, Lili Taylor, Alex Sharp, Liana Liberato, Brooke Smith, and Retta. The film follows a young woman (Collins) as she battles anorexia. The film premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017, as a contender in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.[1] It was released worldwide on Netflix on July 14, 2017.

To the Bone
Directed byMarti Noxon
Produced by
Written byMarti Noxon
Starring
Music byFil Eisler
CinematographyRichard Wong
Edited byElliot Greenberg
Production
company
  • AMBI Group
  • Sparkhouse Media
  • Foxtail Entertainment
  • Mockingbird Pictures
  • To The Bone Productions
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • January 22, 2017 (2017-01-22) (Sundance)
  • July 14, 2017 (2017-07-14) (Netflix)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Ellen is a 20-year-old college dropout dealing with anorexia who returns home to the house of her stepmother and father after struggling through an in-patient program and failing to make any progress. With her absentee father unwilling to deal with her, Ellen's stepmother, Susan, sets her up with a specialist, Dr. William Beckham, who insists that Ellen join his patient program. Ellen is reluctant to do so, but her mind is changed by her younger sister.

Ellen moves into the house with six other patients that include five young women and Luke, an upbeat ballet dancer, who is near recovery from both his anorexia and a knee injury. Luke acts as a moral cheerleader for the other patients and takes a special interest in Ellen, eventually revealing that he is a fan of Ellen's art.

At a family therapy session with Beckham, Ellen's father fails to show up. It is revealed that until eighteen months earlier, Ellen was living with her mother, who abandoned her to move to Phoenix, Arizona with a lesbian partner, and also that the artwork she posted on Tumblr was cited as an influence by a girl who later killed herself. Ellen promises to try to do better but instead continues to lose weight.

Ellen makes headway, changing her name to Eli and bonding with the other members of the house. She is surprised, however, when Luke kisses her and admits he is starting to fall in love with her. She panics and quickly rejects him. Later on, she learns that Megan, another woman in the house, who was pregnant, miscarried her baby, having resumed her purging after reaching the twelve-week mark and believing it was safe. The event sends Eli into a tailspin, and she decides to run away. On her way out, Luke begs her to stay, telling her that he needs her as he realizes that his knee condition is permanent and he will never be able to properly dance again and needs something new to focus on. Eli leaves anyway.

Near death, Eli goes to her mother's home. That night, her mother expresses guilt for the postpartum depression she had after giving birth to Ellen and suggests that she might try feeding Eli with a bottle while rocking her to help solve both their issues. Eli finds the idea strange, but after her mother tells her that she accepts if she chooses death, she decides to go along with the idea and allows herself to be rocked while her mother feeds her rice milk from a bottle.

After eating, Eli goes for a walk at night. Passing out, she hallucinates that she is in a tree where she kisses Luke, who reveals to her how sick she is. He gives her a piece of coal that is her courage, and she swallows it.

Waking up from her dream, Eli decides to return home. She embraces her stepmother and her sister before continuing on to Beckham's patient program.

Cast

Production

In March 2016, it was announced that Lily Collins had been cast in a leading role in an anorexia drama film titled To the Bone, written and directed by Marti Noxon, based on Noxon's early battle with the eating disorder. The film marks Noxon's feature directorial debut[2] Later that month, Keanu Reeves joined the cast, portraying the role of a doctor.[3] On March 29, Carrie Preston was cast as Collins' character's stepmother.[4] AMBI Group was later reported to be co-producing and financing the picture.[5] In early April, it was reported that Lili Taylor, Alex Sharp, Brooke Smith, and Liana Liberato had joined the cast of the film in unknown roles.[6] On April 11, Ciara Bravo was cast in the supporting role of Tracy, a young girl also suffering from an eating disorder.[7]

Principal photography began in late March 2016 in Los Angeles.[2]

Release

The film held its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017. It was featured as a contender in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.[1] In 2017, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film and was released worldwide on July 14, 2017.[8][9]

Critical reception

To the Bone currently holds a 71% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 63 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.72/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "To the Bone offers an insightful, empathetic look at a widespread issue, led by exemplary work from Lily Collins in the central role."[10] Metacritic gives the film an average score of 64 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11]

Justin Chang of Los Angeles Times wrote that the film was "part character study, part PSA" and that it "chronicles a brief but meaningful period in its protagonist’s healing journey." Chang said of Lily Collins performance, "In a different film, Ellen’s sharp tongue might have made her an insufferable fount of wisecracking negativity, but Collins’ performance is subtler than that, and the script gives her ample opportunity to reveal the character's more complicated, vulnerable edges."[12]

gollark: I think most of it does, really, but often in different ways.
gollark: The grammar appears to be missing things like flat earth, COVID-19 secretly not actually being contagious because something or other, Bill Gates, birds as government spy drones, government-generated cognitohazards in Facebook, periodic table "skepticism", and all that.
gollark: Artificial intelligence is hard and annoying to do, but artificial stupidity is really easy. Although it is harder to match the full range of stupidity of humans.
gollark: It has too many spaces in it, but I guess bad grammar is a conspiracy thing too.
gollark: ... I mean, "stimulant" doesn't mean "magically makes everything function better".

References
  1. "2017 Sundance Film Festival: Competition And Next Lineup Announced". Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Institute. November 29, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  2. Hipes, Patrick (March 21, 2016). "Lily Collins To Star In Marti Noxon's Dark Anorexia Comedy 'To The Bone'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  3. Verhoeven, Beatrice (March 29, 2016). "Keanu Reeves Joins Anorexia Drama 'To the Bone'". TheWrap. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  4. McNary, Dave (March 29, 2016). "Carrie Preston Joins Marti Noxon's Eating Disorder Movie 'To the Bone'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  5. Kay, Jeremy (April 4, 2016). "AMBI to finance 'To The Bone'". Screen Daily. Screen International. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  6. McNary, Dave (April 4, 2016). "Lili Taylor, Alex Sharp, Brooke Smith Join Anorexia Comedy 'To the Bone'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  7. Sneider, Jeff (April 11, 2016). "'Big Time Rush' Alum Ciara Bravo Joins Lily Collins in Anorexia Movie 'To the Bone'". TheWrap. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  8. Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 24, 2017). "Netflix Making $8 Million Deal For Lily Collins-Keanu Reeves Drama 'To The Bone'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  9. Heath, Paul (April 20, 2017). "Netflix confirms date for original film 'To The Bone' with Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves". The Hollywood News. Heathside Media. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  10. "To the Bone (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  11. "To the Bone Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  12. Chang, Justin (July 13, 2017). "Lily Collins plays an anorexic in the sardonic, empathetic drama 'To the Bone'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
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