Clip from A BANQUET: One Bite is Too Much

We like to think we have control and dominion over our bodies; but if you're a woman in this world (or non-binary), you're well aware that more often than not, your body is considered public property. But what if you decided that your body did, indeed, belong to someone, or something else? And what if your family was powerless to stop you from indulging this fantasy - and what if it wasn't a fantasy at all?

Making its world premiere at TIFF this week, Ruth Paxton's A Banquet explores a strange situation that will test the faith of its characters, as a daughter is convinced she should not eat, and her mother does not know how to get her daugher back to 'normal'. The film has already been picked up by IFC Midnight, and a clip has been released. It definitely uses the juxtaposition of minimalism and excess to its advantage, making for a disturbing few minutes, worth your time to check out below.

Widowed mother Holly (Sienna Guillory) is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey (Jessica Alexander) experiences a profound enlightenment and insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. Bound to her newfound faith, Betsey refuses to eat but loses no weight. In an agonizing dilemma, torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs.