Watch this heartbreaking Lily Collins film on Netflix

Lily Collins is now a well-known figure to Netflix users due to her ditzy and clumsy portrayal of titular Emily in Darren Star’s Netflix show, Emily in Paris. However, Collins has not always played the typical rom-com lead with impeccable fashion sense and social media presence. She has dabbled in various genres and has been lauded for her versatility and prolific acting skills. 

Collins has a variety of films available on Netflix. However, one such film is based on a tragic real-life event and helped establish Collin’s brilliance. 

Directed by Marti Noxon, the 2017 film, To the Bone sees Collins showcase her sublime acting skills as she adds raw vulnerability and subtlety to her complex character. 

Collins plays a 20-year-old girl, Ellen, dealing with several problems at home while battling anorexia. Deeply affected by her father’s absence in her life, Ellen feels herself falling down the rabbit hole. 

Ellen’s stepmother sends her to Dr William Beckham’s patient program to deal with her eating disorder. Ellen meets new people in the programme, especially Luke, who helps change her perspective towards life. 

However, Ellen’s constant spiral and relentless search for something keeps bothering her in this saga of dealing with addiction and learning to love oneself. 

Starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie Preston, Alex Sharp and others, the film deals with heavyweight issues such as eating disorders, trauma, dysfunctional families, miscarriages, depression and separation anxiety. 

Noxon found a cathartic escape in the film, having dealt with eating disorders herself personally. She also opened up about how substance abuse helped her “escape a certain pain or level of feeling that [I] didn’t want to have”.

Collins, too, has suffered from anorexia and based her effortless performance on such experiences. Her heartfelt role as Ellen provides a delicate and insightful outlook towards an issue as critical as an eating disorder. 

Collins will soon be seen in Windfall alongside Jesse Plemons and Jason Segel. It is slated for a March 18th, 2022, premiere. 

Watch To the Bone on Netflix now.