Smaller, 'Indie' films have always had the unique ability to cover more marginalised, or even taboo subjects than their larger, Hollywood counterparts.
Lily Collins' new film To The Bone is no exception to this rule.
The film, showing at Sundance this year, follows the story of a girl (played by Collins) in the grip of an eating disorder.
The film was written and directed by Marti Noxon, who has previously had an eating disorder, and has written for shows like, 'Mad Men', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Grey's Anatomy' amongst others.
Collins' spoke to Variety about her and Marti's relationship, and how she drew her to the role, 'This was something that right away when I met Marti, I completely was like, oh my god, we have to work together. '
Lily took great pride in explaining how important it was for her to understand the illness she was portraying on the screen,
Marti was so nurturing right away to reference my experiences, but also…in a way, I'm playing Marti's life, so I just talked to her about all her experiences and we shared a lot. I talked to the head of the UCLA department for eating disorders and spoke to medical doctors about the facts, and we visited groups of young women and heard about their stories.
But Lily could also draw from her own experiences, and she revealed, for the first time, that she herself has struggled with eating disorders in the past, 'This movie was really important to me to be a part of because, as a teenager, I suffered from eating disorders.'
This is the first time I'm talking about it. This is my moment of talking about it. It's important. It's really important. It's something that a lot of young women go through and there's no shame in it, and this movie is about that — it's about embracing your past and about realizing it's something that doesn't define who you are, but it's about your experiences, surrounding yourself with people that support you, and about surviving and getting through it.
Removing the taboo from the subject of eating disorders seems to be a big part of the film's purpose.
Last year the cast released this film on World Eating Disorders Action Day,
[youtube ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrgrIts5WV8&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
It attempts to bring some clarity to society's very murky perceptions of eating disorders.
Lily was clearly very happy to be able to open a discussion about the topic, since she posted this Instagram post just yesterday.
She said to Variety, 'We have to tell this story because it's something I think that's incredibly taboo with young men and women to talk about, especially in today's day and age where it's more and more prevalent.'
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
