For a performance as dynamic as the one Amy Forsyth gives in “Inedia,” it’s appropriate that there is more to describing it as magnetic in how her character of Cora pulls you in, but how the young woman she plays is repelled by society at large, drawn into the rural lair of a sketchy self-help guru who has set up a rural retreat where food is forbidden and intake is limited to what the mind can take in rather than the stomach. It isn’t the first time that the actress has played someone intrigued by a cult, instantly noteworthy from her time on the Hulu series “The Path” and inspiring the kind of devotion on her own to follow her as she stood out in one Jason Katims-produced series after another such as “Rise” and “Dear Edward.” After strong supporting turns in films such as “CODA” and “The Novice,” writer/director Elizabeth Cairns has crafted a star vehicle to take full advantage of this searching quality that Forsyth has in a feature, showing her fully capable of carrying a captivating character study where the feeling of not having a sense of belonging is bound to make others a little less lonely.
There’s at least a little “Safe” in “Inedia” particularly when Cora believes she’s suffering from a host of allergies that have no obvious root cause, but at least Julianne Moore’s tortured urbanite in the Todd Haynes’ modern classic didn’t have the internet to encourage her as the autoplay on Cora’s YouTube runs long enough to get a glimpse of Joanna (Susanne Wuest of “Goodnight Mommy” infamy), the vaguely Austrian accented shaman who promises tranquility on Saturna Island where she’s built a “community of shared values.” The idea of permanent fasting is appealing to Cora given the anxiety involved already in monitoring her diet for things she thinks she can’t eat, a futile effort when she can’t seem to get rid of a severe rash around her neck no matter what she does. But she is equally eager to get away from the people around her after an awful dinner at her sister Madeline’s (Rachel Drance), puking out chickpeas upon learning some egg whites were mixed in and deciding to relieve herself of the boyfriend that brought her as part of a general cleanse.
Soon enough, Cora’s on a ferry to the island of fellow lost souls, and Cairns has the new age patter down to give Joanna an air of authority to make her subjects believe she knows something they don’t, speaking of an emotional nourishment of food that could be replaced by something healthier if energy is put elsewhere. What Cairns doesn’t exactly account for, however, is where energy comes from in general when only Mary, the prepubescent daughter of one of the other women, is allowed to eat and an introductory scene shows a former disciple of Joanna’s fainting. It could nag that while Cora has bouts of hunger, only the psychological effects of the extreme fasting are seriously considered when no one looks too tired or loses weight, and for reasons that never add up, one of the first people Cora meets on the island is a reporter who is the first to leave in a huff when Joanna doesn’t seem like the type to invite such scrutiny her way in the first place.
Then again, “Inedia” shows the rewards of not overthinking things when Cora gives herself over fully to Joanna’s regiment and without all the choices that once literally gave her hives, her anxiety – and her rash – disappear. Forsyth wears the heavy burden on Cora lightly, never coming across as some naive babe in the woods in need of rescuing when it clearly isn’t Joanna that’s keeping her around but the more disturbing suspicion she has nowhere else to go. The nuanced turn allows the drama to cut a little deeper than most in this particular atmosphere when it outlines a far more complicated villain that some self-righteous cult leader. “Inedia” proves the fight within oneself can be just as riveting and anchored by a powerful performance from Forsyth, the film is propelled by the strength it takes to find peace of mind.
“Inedia” will screen again at the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 6th at 4 pm.