Eat is an attention-grabbing film right from the title, the poster and even the trailer in which, among other things, references to anthropophagy are clear. Written and directed by Jimmy Weber (The Gatekeeper, Incubator), Eat is a film about self-cannibalism, so it leaves no room for imagination. It therefore goes straight to the heart of the story, infused with splatter and gore sequences to feed fans of the genre.
The story focuses on Novella (Meggie Maddock), a beautiful 30-year-old woman who is struggling financially as her acting career is on the wane. Unable to pay her rent, the young woman goes to various auditions hoping to get lucky. Stubborn in pursuit of her ideals, she will turn down the only roles offered to her namely those in the hard-core field, despite needing the money. Her only friend is Candice (Ali Francis) with whom she spends evenings away from home, trying to forget, at least for a few hours, her failure. An unusual and uncontrolled attraction to his own flesh suddenly manifests itself and becomes his outlet.
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The protagonist of the story is the stunning Meggie Maddock, who well plays a sunny girl who loves her work and also her body to which she devotes much time to make it perfect. In this regard it is noteworthy how the extreme care for herself later results in heinous self-harm involving the viewer in the sudden change of the story but also of the character's psychology.
Self-harm and self-cannibalism are thus the themes underlying a story that is seemingly radiant but gives way to horror and drama. The protagonist's outward beauty, her stubbornness in pursuing her dream in the film world, her smile, actually conceal a suffering and extremely sensitive soul that, slowly, despair and constant disappointments will make darker and darker. Feeding on one's own flesh is an extreme gesture that results in a desperate quest to feel alive but at the same time destroys the cared-for image of herself because of the obvious self-inflicted wounds.
In this sense, the protagonist's shattered soul will be in line with an equally battered physical appearance. A pure and naive soul, Novella will realize too late that she lives in an ephemeral society where ideals and feelings do not count and where human shells are moved by the basest instincts.
In spite of a few minor naiveté and some forcing in the screenplay that can be passed over, the story flows smoothly. There is no shortage of interesting twists and turns in which the protagonist's friend is involved and which embellish this interesting film by Jimmy Weber, who, in addition to directing and screenplay, also handled the music.
Eat is a well-directed film, a horror film with dramatic overtones, in which in addition to horror there is room for feelings but also for sociological reflections. Very good Meggie Meddock in a role certainly not easy. Expressive and completely cast in the part, she made her character extremely charming and at the same time so helpless as to arouse a sense of sorrow in the audience.
The film enjoys a glossy cinematography (by Jon Stevenson) that contrasts with the horror of the bloody sequences, just as the vivid color of the blood stands out on the platinum blond hair and the pale face of the protagonist illuminated by deep blue eyes, creating a pleasing contrast of colors. White and red are conspicuously present not only in the poster but also in the film, as if reflecting the whiteness of the character tainted by an uncontrolled death wish.
Also noteworthy is the music well adapted to the different moments of the film. The sweet melody accompanying the final sequence is successful.
Also notable are the special effects by Monster Makeup Effects.
The cast of Eat consists of Meggie Maddock (Butcher, M is for Martin, The Inner Room), Ali Frances, Maru Garcia, Jeremy Make, Dakota Pike, Josh Staab, Luke Sorge, John Schmidt and Jeff Maez. Annie Baker handled production of the film.
