Thin

2006

1h 45m

Documentary

List

100%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

This documentary, directed by Lauren Greenfield, follows four young women dealing with anorexia and bulimia at a strict treatment facility in Florida where they temporarily live. As the camera follows them, Shelly, Polly, Brittany and Alisa, ranging in age from 15 to 30 years old, have group therapy sessions, weigh-ins and meals. The women discuss the emotional and psychological issues tied to their body-image problems, as each struggles to fight the urge to lose more weight.

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John Anderson

Variety

[The film] makes its case by neither exploiting its subjects nor soft-pedaling their plight.

Jan 23, 2006

Full Review

Deborah Krieger

I on the Arts

What I found interesting while watching the film is that no attention is paid to aspects of aspects of society, especially in the United States, that could very well have played a part in these women and girl developing such severe eating disorders.

Mar 3, 2019

Full Review

Liz Perle

Common Sense Media

Gripping anorexia docu; watch with your kids.

Rated: 5/5

Jan 2, 2011

Full Review

MaryAnn Johanson

Flick Filosopher

I thought I had issues with food -- I just like it too much. But to see the four women portrayed in Lauren Greenfield's startling documentary Thin is to see people at war not only with food but with their own minds and bodies.

Nov 9, 2006

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...genuinely moving...

Rated: 2.5/4

May 4, 2006

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 4/5

Feb 4, 2006

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Audience Member

What a truly horrible and clueless doc. Renfro is a facility that should be investigated by the government for cruelty and incompetence. They treat the girls with eating disorders like prisoners and take them off their much needed meds. that is what they need, are meds. this is a mental illness. instead they treat them cruelly and like they are in prison and behaving badly. this place is criminal. Plus, they hire obese people to work with girls that have an eating disorder. That is exactly what these girls are afraid of. why would you put fat people in their faces instead of healthy and mentally healthy human beings. If I were Polly's parents I would sure for a billion dollars. They killed her with their cruelty. Please spread the word about this incompetent staff. maybe they will shut the place down.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tough to watch. Its bizarre seeing people being miserable doing something that i have to stop myself from doing because i like it to much. A very well done and revealing doc.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Audience Member

Probably one of the most jarring documentaries I've ever seen.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Pretty disturbing, but very enlightening. Goddamn, am I happy I don't have an eating disorder.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This was so incredibly sad.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

david f

This is a powerful, depressing documentary about a live-in rehabilitation facility which treats women with eating disorders using a mixture of talk and art therapy, close monitoring of their meals, surprise searches of their rooms, and Orwellian control over their social lives. Several women are followed closely throughout their treatment and their conditions are extremely sad as, for example, whey one sees a double chin where there simply is none. But just as disturbing for me was the protrayal of the doctors and staff treating the patients. In one instance, a patient, Shelly, is accused by her doctor of having an uneaten veggie burger discovered in her room, forbidden contraband in a world where no purses, bags or packages in which to conceal your prescribed meals are allowed in the cafeteria. She vigorously denies possessing the uneaten food but we are then shown a meeting of the staff treating her in which the incident is cited to justify the application of the label sneaky to her and she is singled out for stepped up monitoring. Later, when it is revealed that the burger was discovered in a common bathroom and had belonged to another patient, Shelly has to drag an apology out of her doctor who appears to continue to view her with distrust anyways. In addition to the patients and their doctors there are also some fasicnating and even harrowing scenes involving the patientsâ(TM) families. The film doesnâ(TM)t get very deeply into the causes of the disorders being treated but focuses its attention almost exclusively on the treatment including the lives they lead in the facility, their meals and daily weigh-ins, the bonds formed and broken between the patients, and the consequences of their inadequate health insurance sometimes forces patients to leave before they or their doctors think they are ready. This is a stark look at eating disorders, their consequences, and their treatment with no judgments or preaching just the truth, twenty four frames per second. It was brave of the subjects of this documentary to tell their stories and the result is a fascinating if disturbingly sad documentary.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Lauren Greenfield

Director

Lauren Greenfield

Producer

R.J. Cutler

Producer

Amanda Micheli

Producer

Ted Skillman

Producer

Sheila Nevins

Executive Producer

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Synopsis

This documentary, directed by Lauren Greenfield, follows four young women dealing with anorexia and bulimia at a strict treatment facility in Florida where they temporarily live. As the camera follows them, Shelly, Polly, Brittany and Alisa, ranging in age from 15 to 30 years old, have group therapy sessions, weigh-ins and meals. The women discuss the emotional and psychological issues tied to their body-image problems, as each struggles to fight the urge to lose more weight.

Director: Lauren Greenfield
Producer: Lauren Greenfield, R.J. Cutler, Amanda Micheli, Ted Skillman
Production Co: HBO Films
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 20, 2014
Runtime: 1h 45m

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