[NameThatFilmFilter] English woman with food/body image issues
September 5, 2014 6:26 AM Subscribe
I really only remember the scene and not the rest of film but here goes:
The film was not a huge blockbuster (e.g. Bridget Jones) but it had a budget so it was well produced. I want to say I saw in the 2000's.
An English woman, successful lives in an extremely nice London house with flowing staircases etc. As I recall she is some kind of business executive but she lives alone and that loneliness is a main theme of the film.
There are many long-ish scenes of her moving about her house in silence. She is blonde (?), attractive, 30's (?) and has "a few extra pounds" which causes her body image issues. I would say a Brenda Blethyn type but I'm pretty sure it was not her. I think the film touches on a troubled/shallow dating life.
The defining scene: in a heartbreaking ritual, we see her methodically and meticulously prepare for another quiet lonely night at home... and then she proceeds to gorge/binge on food in her kitchen (I think she may even be crying during the binging)... it is incredibly emotional and hard to watch as her cheeks and face literally swell with the food (ice cream? sweets?)
Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have more but just typing this out has brought details to mind that I didn't remember before starting this post so perhaps questions may trigger more memories.
Thanks!
There are many long-ish scenes of her moving about her house in silence. She is blonde (?), attractive, 30's (?) and has "a few extra pounds" which causes her body image issues. I would say a Brenda Blethyn type but I'm pretty sure it was not her. I think the film touches on a troubled/shallow dating life.
The defining scene: in a heartbreaking ritual, we see her methodically and meticulously prepare for another quiet lonely night at home... and then she proceeds to gorge/binge on food in her kitchen (I think she may even be crying during the binging)... it is incredibly emotional and hard to watch as her cheeks and face literally swell with the food (ice cream? sweets?)
Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have more but just typing this out has brought details to mind that I didn't remember before starting this post so perhaps questions may trigger more memories.
Thanks!
It's been a while since I saw it, but perhaps Female Perversions?
posted by adamrice at 6:47 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by adamrice at 6:47 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
That scene actually sounds a lot like Kristen Wiig's ritual of very elaborately decorating a cupcake alone in her kitchen (after her bakery went out of business) and then just eating it with no ado, in Bridesmaids
...but not English.
posted by psoas at 6:53 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
...but not English.
posted by psoas at 6:53 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I'm pretty sure it isn't actually Brenda Blethyn who stars in it (I didn't see a close one in her imdb filmography) but I'm 99.9% that it takes place in London so not L&A or FP.
It is NOT a comedy.
posted by victors at 7:06 AM on September 5, 2014
It is NOT a comedy.
posted by victors at 7:06 AM on September 5, 2014
Not all the details fit (she is unemployed, rake thin and lives with her family in a council house) but in Mike Leigh's 1990 film Life is Sweet, Jane Horrocks plays a desperately lonely and unhappy young woman who binge eats chocolate and crisps in a distressed and agitated way in her bedroom. This came to mind for me in part because Horrocks's mother is played by Alison Steadman, who is in sort of the same category as Brenda Blethyn.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 3:47 PM on September 5, 2014
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 3:47 PM on September 5, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by runincircles at 6:41 AM on September 5, 2014