A sense of dread permeates this story of a jazz singer trapped in a harrowing eating-disorder cycle that turns horrific and hallucinatory
The gnawing omnipresence of an eating disorder becomes the source of body horror in Samantha Aldana’s accomplished, visually impressive debut. Drawing from her own experience of bulimia, co-writer Kelly Murtagh is phenomenal as Ivy, an aspiring jazz singer who is trapped in an endless cycle of bingeing and purging. Straightforward in terms of plotting, the harrowing character study opts to render the frightening effects of Ivy’s psychological condition through a distinctly sensorial soundscape.
Sensitive to the presence and mentions of food, Ivy seems to exist outside her own body. Her mind is occupied with the sounds of sweet wrappers being torn open, cereal clattering against a glass bowl, the beeping tones of the register as a cashier marvels at her unusually large grocery order. The camera also stalks Ivy physically, echoing the character’s destructive obsession with her body; she can’t help but stare at every reflective surface.
