Louis Theroux’s current documentary series, Dark States, sees the filmmaker capture devastating human crises – sex trafficking, heroin addiction, murder – across three American cities. Now it’s been announced that Theroux’s next project is coming at the end of this month, where he will explore eating disorders.
The BBC confirmed the next doc: Theroux will visit St Ann’s Hospital and Vincent Square Clinic, two of London’s biggest adult eating disorder treatment facilities. In it, he meets women in different stages of their illness, of all ages and backgrounds. The documentary chronicles the in-patient routine – weigh-ins, therapy sessions, scheduled eating – as they battle complex eating disorders. It offers a raw insight into the illnesses, personal and complex to each sufferer.
Anorexia is the most deadly mental illness in the UK. It affects one in every 250 women at some stage in their lives. The fictional depiction of eating disorders this year across film and television has been divisive: To The Bone, starring Lily Collins, met controversy for what many called dangerous glamorisation of anorexia. Elsewhere, Overshadowed was recently applauded for its raw and thoughtful story of a teenager descending into the dark depths of her illness, which was personified in the show.
The next and final episode of the Dark States series, Murder in Milwaukee, will premiere Sunday, October 22.
Louis Theroux: Talking to Anorexia will air on BBC Two October 29 9pm
