Marti Noxon's To the Bone a deeply moving debut

NEW YORK - Writer-director Marti Noxon's deeply moving feature debut, To the Bone, isn't just about a young woman confronting anorexia; it's a story about coming to terms with the ridiculous, awkward, beautiful and painful realities of adult life.

Without judging or romanticizing, Noxon presents a heartfelt and heartbreaking portrait of a 20-year-old woman trying to cope with the challenges of growing up by obsessively restricting calories.

Noxon and star Lily Collins - who both have personal experiences with eating disorders - have created an indelible character in Ellen/Eli, the eye-rolling, over-it millennial at the heart of the film. Like a next-generation Juno steeped in bitters, Eli is all fragile vulnerability and stubborn defiance - a sneering mix of fear, arrogance and angst, simultaneously yearning for and fearing adulthood.