Feed

This movie claimed every emotion I had, it is great! It absolutely wrung me out. The acting by the 3 leads, Troian, Tom and Ben is excellent. The photography with the slow motion scenes are incredible. The director brought this all together in an amazing and emotional way. People will be talking about this movie.

I have been dealing with an eating disorder almost my whole life, I've seen many movies and documentaries about it, and this one is the first one that perfectly captures the feeling i have never been able to express out loud. Troian did a brilliant job telling such a emotional story, which is also based on her own struggle, i applaud the intimacy she shared with the public, and im sure this film will help people understand what having an eating disorder truly is about: control.

Although an eating disorder comes into play as the sister tries to quickly join her twin brother I'm not sure if that is the main focus of this story. It seems that anxiety disorder, depression, hallucinations, schizophrenia, and even a possibility of a brain injury from her car accident created this alternate reality that we experience throughout the story. Very well acted, and of course the writers had to leave a "you decide the ending" ending.

I have to say, as an aspiring writer who has been failed by society and its twisted way of diminishing mental health, I am in complete awe. I knew Troian and Tom were something but this is beyond. Rarely have I seen movies that depict mental health from a place that is so real. Rarely have I seen movies that show the ugly as beautifully as Feed does. I knew of Troian's history with mental health from what she has mentioned in interviews but honestly had I not known, after watching Feed, I would still know. There seems to be an authenticity to art when it comes from experience. There is a truth that however long you study a case, you can never truly understand and portray have you not lived through it yourself. I know too much how tough writing about certain things can be and that is also probably why I am so touched by Feed. Troian, you did all of this so courageously and I personally thank you for it. Tommy, your directing is so unique and delicate, I look forward to seeing more features of yours. Also, props to Jennifer Vecchiarello for the editing. I can oddly tell that this film was made for good reasons, and that makes it earn so many points.

It's hard not to review this film without comparing it to To the Bone, due to them tackling the same subject matter and coming out so close to one another. But watching To the Bone first really enabled me to put my finger on what it was I liked so much about this film, and why it was so different to other portrayals of anorexia I've seen. It really allowed you to get into the mind of the sufferer, and drove home the fact that it is more than just not eating, that it is all consuming and that it becomes your reality. Where I saw To the Bone as a kind of surface level exploration of the disease and the way it's perceived by others, that ultimately added nothing much to what people already know about it, you can see that Feed was created with the sole intention of allowing people to empathise and understand this condition more. It let us get into the mind of the individual rather than just watch them, and not once did I feel as if it was used as a plot device or a quirk to drive another story.

Anorexia never had to even be said out loud, and yet we saw it through Liv's visions of her brother, who I suppose is the physical incarnation of the voice that an individual hears. The way it was done was very clever, and less obvious. The whole thing was beautifully shot, acted and written. Lastly, I thought the ending was very, very realistic and true to how an individual with an ED really moves on with their life, and the nature of recovery.