Someone to Love

October 16, 2017
What people see when they look at 16-year-old Liv Blakely: the slim, pretty, and artistic daughter of a California congressman. What Liv thinks they see: a fat, unlovable screwup who doesn’t fit in with her family or at her posh Los Angeles high school, which is filled with models and actors. Since the part that seems easiest to fix is her weight, Liv fasts, binges, and purges in secret. When her controlling father announces that he’s running for governor and her handsome actor crush starts noticing her, the pressure amps up, and her life gets even more out of control. De la Cruz (Alex and Eliza) has a good handle on the details of eating-disordered behavior, particularly the disjunction between mindset and reality and having to hit bottom before getting help. Other plot points, though, particularly Liv’s inspirational chance meeting with her favorite artist and her relationship with a boyfriend who veers from unbelievably perfect to unbelievably awful, end up feeling more contrived than realistic. Ages 13–up. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment.