Best Movies About Eating Disorders

My waistline and I are mortal enemies—and chances are, we always will be. I struggle with my weight. I struggle with the memories of facing verbal abuse from people, just because of the number on my pants and the number on the scale.

I struggle with my relationship with food, because it's inherently unhealthy. I struggle with stepping on the scale and reminding myself that I am "worthy," regardless of the weight. It's a never-ending, torturous struggle.

I struggle because I was diagnosed with EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Stated) for most of my life.

The toll it's taken on me is one most people would never see at first glance. My teeth in the back of my mouth are rotted through from throwing up countless meals in middle school, high school, and college. I developed a need to chew on things when nervous, and still struggle with sitting for long periods of time.

In middle school, I was hospitalized five times for fainting because I didn't want to drink water out of fear of gaining weight. In high school, I was hospitalized twice because my heart stopped from malnutrition. In college, I had to go inpatient after dipping below a size 00 and dropping a Size 11 children's. (I'm around 5'8, for the record.)

It is really, really hard to explain to people what it's like to have an eating disorder to those who have never had one. It's hard to describe the need for control, the desperation, the anxiety you feel around food. However, if you want to get an idea, you can watch a film that'll give you a glimpse into the anorectic mind.

Speaking as an EDNOS diagnosee, these are the best movies about eating disorders ever made—and the most honest ones out there.

Without a doubt, one of the best movies on the topic is the recent Netflix release, To The Bone. This is one of the only movies about eating disorders that really gives you a good idea of what it's like to be in treatment for an eating disorder.

This is definitely a sunnier outlook on eating disorders than most, but it pretty much hits the nail on the head with a lot of topics. The lead character is played by a former eating disorder sufferer, which is why it's so realistic.

There's a lot To The Bonegot right about eating disorders, but it doesn't really show the level of paranoia and isolation you get when you have a disorder. It also doesn't show how starving warps your thinking, either.

Also, the whole, "unconventional doctor" thing is bullshit. Just saying.

For those not in the know, the Renfrew Center in Florida is considered to be the top treatment center for extreme cases of EDNOS, orthorexia, anorexia, and bulimia. Among some pro-ana folk, going to Renfrew is seen as a status symbol of sorts.

Thin is a movie based on a book by the same name, which follows real patients at Renfrew as they work to overcome their eating disorders. This is probably the most gut-wrenching one on this list to watch, because it becomes so clear how many comorbid disorders run with eating disorders when you watch it.

If you want to see what it looks like to be in treatment for anorexia, or the why behind eating disorders, this is one of the best movies about eating disorders you can watch. Don't be shocked if you end up very shaken after watching it; it's really hard to view at times.

One of the most famous faces of anorexia was Isabelle Caro, who was part of the NO-Anorexia campaign in Europe. Her emaciated nude photos were plastered throughout the world as a grim warning of what happens when you give into anorexia.

With a BMI under 13, former model Isabelle Caro realized that she was going to die. Before she passed away in 2010, she did interviews about her eating disorder and what sparked it. This 2015 movie is a compilation of those interviews, along with the telling story of what happened to her.

This is one of the many movies about eating disorders to talk about how one's job or hobby can cause them to get sick. It's not the last one you'll see on this list to broach this subject.

Emma was a beautiful girl who suffered from anorexia nervosa—and ended up dying as a result of it. Too often, people just assume that eating disorders are a decision, when they're really not. Life with an eating disorder is not a decision; it's a death sentence that the sufferer often doesn't even understand why they're given it.

Emma Wants to Live is her own documentary showing what life is really like when you can't make yourself eat. This is one of the very few movies about eating disorders that is fully dedicated to dispelling myths about it—and one of the only to actually be made by someone who died of the illness.

You may roll your eyes at the 80s filmography, but make no mistake about it, this is one of the best movies about eating disorders ever made. Titled after the book it's based on, The Best Little Girl in the World is a gripping glance at the kind of neurotic, unending quest for perfection anorexia puts you in.

It's easy to find online, and incredibly sickening to watch. Even after all these decades, it's impressively on point about what it's like to suffer from an eating disorder as a high schooler in the United States. Battling anorexia is very much a real thing in this movie—and how it unfolds will shock you.

Most people will recognize Girl, Interrupted as a great movie about mental health. That being said, it's also a pretty decent Hollywood-style option when it comes to movies about eating disorders.

Of all the movies on this list, this is one of the most unreal. That being said, it's Hollywood—and they're not exactly known for being incredibly caring about keeping facts straight with things like this. Winona Ryder's character is very human, and that's good enough.

Remember when I mentioned the term "pro-ana?" Well, it's a real thing.

The pro-ana movement frames anorexia as a lifestyle choice—or in some cases, encourages eating disorder sufferers to "do the wrong thing, the right way" and minimize the physical damage they endure. Starving in Suburbia is a pretty realistic Lifetime movie about how people find pro-ana sites and the aftermath.

This is one of the few movies about eating disorders that goes into the actual communities of sufferers and shows how it can actually cause you even further damage. Starving in Suburbia also portrays males with eating disorders, which is a nice breath of fresh air.

That being said, this movies tends to paint pro-ana with a broad brush. Yes, there are a lot of pro-anorexia sites that encourage disordered eating. A lot of pro-ana sites are basically support groups for people who aren't ready to seek help, but don't want to die as a result of their eating disorder. So, take it all with a grain of salt.

Perhaps one of the most overlooked movies about eating disorders is Eating: A Very Serious Comedy About Women & Food. This movie's claim to fame is being one of the only ones to show that you don't have to be a young woman to have an eating disorder.

The movie is very telling, at times pretty dark, but keeps things way more lighthearted than others on this list. You'd never expect a dinner party to have people who don't want to eat, but then again, it's a lot more honest than most films you'll see with this stuff.

Binge is one of the few movies about eating disorders that touches on an act that most people who aren't coping with binge eating disorders or bulimia won't understand—binging. There's alcohol, crazy amounts of pastries, and a lot of mental illnesses underlying this.

Though the movie itself is a comedy, there's something to be said about this short film's eloquently stark way of showing what a binge session looks like to onlookers.

We all know that models and dancers tend to have much higher rates of eating disorders than others. At first glance, Center Stage doesn't seem to fit on a list of movies about eating disorders.

However, if you read between the lines, it becomes clear that one of the character's eating disorders was actually a product of the ballet world. It begs the question of how far should you go—would you go—to be the beautiful dancer you want to be?