The brand-new film Brittany Runs a Marathon has to do with a woman who slims down and discovers joy. In an era in which body-positivity activists have actually been working hard to help ladies uncouple their sense of self-regard from the numbers on a scale, that's one controversial plot.
It's likewise an over-simplification of the movie, which understands the risks of fat fear and body-shaming. Writer-director Paul Downs Collazio includes scenes and discussion plainly indicated to challenge the concept that women need to shed pounds in order to discover love and success. That the motion picture's lead character end up following that trajectory anyway isn't a lot an indictment of Brittany Runs a Marathon as it is a sign of just how difficult it is to navigate the political and individual topic of weight-loss.
At the motion picture's start, Brittany's problem isn't that she's unhappy with her weight particularly; she's dissatisfied with her life. Brittany, played with compassion and wit by Jillian Bell, is a 27-year-old working at a low-paying, dead-end task at a theater. Her social life is a string of late nights and heavy drinking with her New York City roomie, a self-centered Instagram influencer. (Is there any other kind?).
Thus many individuals who fight with insecurities, Brittany cracks jokes at her own expenditure so that others do not get there initially.
Brittany is outwardly joyful and boisterous, and friends tell her that she's the funniest individual they know. However Bell's subtle cues-- a flinch after her roommate's callous remark, a flash of vulnerability in her eyes when a man flirting with her at a bar turns lewd-- let the audience understand that Brittany's humor is a type of self-defense. Thus numerous individuals who struggle with insecurities, Brittany cracks jokes at her own expenditure so that others don't arrive initially.
Brittany's weight emerges as a central plot point when she pays a visit to the medical professional in an effort to get an illicit Adderall prescription. Rather, the physician states that he's worried about her BMI (an oft-criticized procedure of health, for what it's worth), in addition to her high blood pressure and elevated resting heart rate. He advises her to lose in between 45 and 55 pounds. "That's the weight of a Siberian husky," Brittany keeps in mind wryly. "You want me to pull a medium-sized working canine off of my body.".
The motion picture takes care to have the physician acknowledge that some people are fat since of genetics or thyroid issues, and that it's possible to be both healthy and fat. Brittany, however, hasn't been prioritizing nutrition and exercise. Therefore, with authentic, relatable worry-- exercising in public can be frightening, especially when you have a body that tends to be the target of examination and criticism-- Brittany starts jogging.
From the minute Brittany's sneakers initially touch the pavement, good ideas occur. She signs up with a running group, where she discovers friends who actually appreciate her. They decide to train for the New York City marathon together, a goal that ends up being significantly meaningful to Brittany as a symbol of her capability to take control of her life. Considering that she's got to wake up early for runs, she cuts down on the drinking and begins getting more sleep. And to earn more money for cross-training at the fitness center and other marathon-related costs, Brittany gets a house-sitting gig-- which leads her to a person she's very first exacerbated by and then, inevitably, brought in to, a directionless charmer called Jern (Utkarsh Ambudkar).
Workout makes our heroine feel more powerful, healthier, and more optimistic: So far, so uncontroversial. But Brittany also becomes noticeably slimmer over the course of the movie, which includes a recurring theme in which her bare feet appear on a digital scale with numbers heading ever-closer to her goal weight. (Bell trained for a marathon in order to get ready for the function, and lost 40 pounds herself at the same time; she wore prosthetics for Brittany's earlier scenes.).
Because we're seeing Brittany through her own unforgiving eyes, the camera also appears to prompt us to scan Brittany's body for defects.
In some scenes, Brittany stares in a state of quiet, delighted shock at the image of herself in a top that's now too big for her, extending out the additional fabric. In others, she drops the laundry she's holding to gaze at her mostly-naked body in the mirror, or beings in front of her laptop computer with her chin slanted to the side, taking selfies of her newly altered jawline.