All Jacked Up: Hungry For The Truth?, directed by Jennifer Mattox, is a documentary look at four American teenagers seeking the truth behind “ their obsessive, addictive, and emotion-fueled eating habits”. All Jacked Up is a great film geared towards young people, following the lives of four American teenagers (Melissa, Michael, Danny, Raquel) as they explore their (mostly dysfunctional) relationship with food.
The results, as you can imagine, are not very appetizing. One young person has an eating disorder, another overeats while a third eats too much junk food contributing to an inability to focus. All Jacked Up shows how an entire nation of young people are experiencing a collective eating disorder, a disconnect from their food, families, society and future. Many of the teenagers shown in the film seem anxious, sad, scared or apathetic.
The film isn’t all heavy though, rather the more negative sections are counterbalanced by humorous animation sequences that keep the film light and engaging. The onus on ‘the food journey’ makes this film quite uplifting and enlightening.
The film finishes with a sort of therapy session that feels both unnecessary and voyeuristic. Perhaps it was meant to be cathartic. All Jacked Up would have been much stronger without the inclusion of a girl confronting her mother over never feeling/being good enough to meet her mother’s approval. Overall this is a great, well made film for young people. All Jacked Up would be a powerful addition to school curriculums.
Visit: http://alljackedupmovie.com/
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