Little Miss Perfect

The acting was awful, but that could have been excused considering the low budget if the movie was actually good. It wasn't. It was filled with all the tired old clichés, such as:

• Upper-class white girl with distant parents and a perfectionist nature. - Looks at thinspo once and suddenly becomes anorexic. - Barely eats for weeks and never binges. - Hallucinates 'ana', the personification of her eating disorder. - Is anorexic for just a few months then recovers.

It's just not realistic. The use of those clichés only further skews society's view of eating disorders, which is harmful to those who actually suffer.

I give it two stars for being kind of entertaining.

Because of the subject matter, I was expecting an artless 'Made for TV' cautionary tale on the subject of anorexia. But this is actually a beautifully filmed, completely involving story about a 14 year old girl who discovers an online site that promotes anorexia. Sadly there are such sites on the internet, where anorexics and bulimics can chat with each other, and "support" each others addictions. Annabelle starts to unravel under the pressure of being class President, while maintaining perfect grades. In fact, the girl seems to be obsessed with perfection, and when her mother leaves her and her dad, who seems to have little time for his daughter, Annabelle begins a dark and dangerous online friendship with a girl named Aly. This girl runs a website that promotes the slogan "Thinner is the Winner." Pushing such ideas as "only empty is pure," and "not happy, not sad, just perfect," Annabelle sees this as an alternate way to reach "perfection."

So what makes this movie miles better than some run-of-the-mill Lifetime TV movie? First off, the main actress, Karlee Roberts is mesmerizing as Belle; she has these huge, expressive eyes, and facial expressions that so perfectly translate all the terror and confusion in this girl's life. It's hard to take your eyes off her. She seems so frail that she might just break at any moment, but she continues her charade bravely, with this smile on her face that shows all the fear and confusion behind the mask. Also, the supporting cast is perfect as well; her friends and her boyfriend are all utterly believable as typical 14 year old kids. For once we have actors the same age as the roles they are playing, and not 18 year old's playing 14 year old's. For a film like this, using actors this young makes it so much more intense, and disturbing. Finally I have to mention the technical aspects. This movie is GORGEOUS. Shot in 2;35 widescreen, which is almost unheard of for a film like this, the director somehow achieves this amazing ethereal "glow" throughout the film. It looks like they used this 'vaseline-covered lens' technique that they used in movies from the 30's and 40's. Everything looks dreamy and has a gold tint. The wardrobe department even deserves a mention for the pretty clothes the girls are always wearing.

"Little Miss Perfect" at times borders on horror, when Belle begins to see herself as a kind of monster when she looks in the mirror. For some reason it reminds me of the film "Black Swan." There is even a shocking twist towards the conclusion that had my jaw on the floor. Anyway I'm so happy to have stumbled upon this powerful film, purely by accident. I absolutely recommend this for kids and parents of kids this age. I can't recall a better film on the subject of eating disorders.

When I first viewed the trailer, I pictured this movie as an amateur take on something very serious, that would gloss over the harsh truth of give a 'feel-good' 'this couldn't happen to you' idea to the viewer. I was very wrong.

This movie, that not only contains beautiful acting from everyone, amazingly crafted dialogue and realistic characters, touches very deeply on a matter that affects so many young girls today.

The movie deeply analyses what might push someone over the edge and that might send them down the rabbit hole, surprisingly gown trying to gain control. The movie not only highlights the dangers, socially, mentally and physically of getting involved with 'thinspiration' posts and 'pro-ana', but also creates a dark atmosphere that creates the question 'could that be me?' or 'could that happen to someone I love?'

It's an overall must watch for anyone any age, but especially for young girls.

Just to let you know that this movie includes pro ana, bulimia and self harm There were some creepy scenes. It did have some old clichés, such as: Upper-class girl with distant parents and a perfectionist nature. and She Looks at thinspo once and suddenly becomes anorexic. I mean you don't see thinspo once and suddenly put down your pop tart, and things like not really eating for like a week and never binges, that's just not realistic and Is anorexic for just a few months then recovers, its not as easy as that. The fact the she's cured so easily is really bad for people who are watching the Movie for awareness of the disorder. Most people with eating disorders like this usually go their whole lives suffering from it.

The Movie is probably a lot more harmful than helpful. The use of those clichés only furthers society's view of eating disorders, which is also harmful to those who actually suffer from them. I really wished that the writer had done a better job of researching stuff. There is hardly any Movies that talk about eating disorders and tells the truth about them.

I would of liked more character development, There were plot holes - like Belle's mom who disappears with no explanation or resolution, the undeveloped supporting characters are just a few of the issues with the writing. I didn't like that we didn't see much of the Belle's parents either.

I really liked the Movie that was used, In this Movie we have actors the same age as the roles they are playing, and not 18 year old playing 14 year old. I think the acting was really good with what they had to work with.

This movie manages to create the atmosphere in which a young girl tries to cope with the realities of life. The scenes of the movie are exaggerated so the viewer might empathize with Anabelle and get mad about her decisions: "Why would she do that? It doesn't help, it just makes her weaker!"

The story does not expand on how Anabelle got hooked into this world, but it seems to be the next step in controlling something, when everything falls out of her control. The pressures of appearing perfect take a great toll on this character and I found the actress did justice to the role.

I've not seen every movie about eating disorders, but I found this one to be interesting enough to see it twice in the span of one year. It nearly touches the surface on awareness, but I think it's well done and suitable for most audiences, since it does not go deep into the disorder hole.