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Lily Collins plays anorexia sufferer in new Netflix film: get the details

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Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
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Lily Collins will star in the upcoming original Netflix film To The Bone, a film that follows Ellen, a young woman who has battled with anorexia for most of her teenage life. The first photo from the upcoming film shows the Love, Rosie actress stood on scales while looking sadly at the results.

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Lily plays Ellen, who suffers from anorexia

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The official synopsis to the intriguing new film reads: "Ellen is an unruly, 20-year-old anorexic girl who spent the better part of her teenage years being shepherded through various recovery programs, only to find herself several pounds lighter every time. Determined to find a solution, her dysfunctional family agrees to send her to a group home for youths, which is led by a non-traditional doctor. Surprised by the unusual rules—and charmed by her fellow patients—Ellen has to discover for herself how to confront her addiction and attempt self-acceptance, in order to stand a chance against her demons."

lily collins© Photo: Getty Images

Lily spoke about the role

The film will be released on Netflix on 14 July, and Lily has previously spoken about the role in relation to her own struggle with an eating disorder. She told Variety: "This movie was really important for me to be a part of because as a teenager I suffered from eating disorders. So this was something that right away when I met [writer and director] Marti [Nixon], I was like, 'Oh my God! We have to work together, we have to tell this story.' Marti was so nurturing right away to reference my experiences but also, in a way, playing the part of Marti's life so we shared a lot of experiences and talked a lot."

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During the Sundance festival, Marti added: "I felt like there have only been movies on TV about it, and that problem hasn't gotten much better since I was a kid. So I wanted to bring it to a bigger screen with a little more humour and a little more perspective on now, from being older."