SYNOPSIS:

15 year old Catherine sits with her parents in a London modelling agency. After discriminating her small portfolio, the agent in charge of 'new faces' decides he wants to sign her. Later at home, Catherine tries out a few Facebook status updates and takes several selfies but gives up when she is unhappy with them all. She looks at herself in the mirror and sucks in her stomach. Heading down for dinner, Catherine's parents surprise her with a celebratory cake which she says she can't eat. Later, she marks a big red X on the 13th of May; on the 30th is the words 'PHOTO SHOOT' in the same red pen. She looks at herself in the mirror and pinches at her skin. She measures herself and is disappointed, especially her hips which are 35". In a pharmacy, Catherine browses some slimming products but gets embarrassed by an older woman looking at her and leaves. A few days later in a restaurant, Catherine sits with a group of friends, however she decides not to eat anything. As everyone feels awkward, she relents and orders a Caesar salad but eats very little of it, preferring a diet coke. She excuses herself to go to the bathroom. There, she makes herself sick and throws up what little food she has eaten. After cleaning herself up, she returns to the table to find everyone whispering about her. In her room, Catherine pinches and measures herself but this time she seems a bit happier and marks off the 21st of May, writing 34.5" underneath. She uploads a selfie and waits for the likes to come in. Catherine and a boy walk down the street, seeming pretty close to each other. They go into a coffee shop; the boy gets a large frappuccino but she gets a simple black coffee. Back in the street, they kiss, however the boy puts his hand on her hip and she freaks out and storms off, leaving him confused. A montage of sequences show Catherine working out, eating and purging, pinching and measuring herself, and marking off dates on her calender. She continues to grow thinner and more gaunt and malnourished. Back in the pharmacy, Catherine looks over some more products but this time they are laxatives. At home, Catherine's eating dinner with her parents but again, she eats barely anything. Eventually she has to rush to the toilet as the laxatives take effect. Her mum worries for her. In her room, Catherine does a bunch of exercises but can barely pick herself off of the floor afterwards. She looks pale and thin and generally exhausted. She goes through her ritual of pinching and measuring herself but starts crying at the result. She goes to the calender, marks off the 29th of May and writes 34" under it. She goes to bed with a smile. The next day, on the train to London with her parents, Catherine sits reading the latest Vogue. Her father, upset by what her daughter is going through asks her if she really wants to go through with it all. They both get upset but she explains this is the life she wants. We see Catherine get ready for her shoot and turn from a gaunt, pale, malnourished teen into a beautiful young woman. She is called to go for the photo shoot, looks at herself in the mirror, takes a deep breath and walks off camera. During the end credits, we see Catherine eating a burger and fries with her parents after the shoot, kissing the boy in a coffee shop (they both have large frappuccinos but then we zoom in on her calender with another photo shoot highlighted at the end of June. The End

THE PERFECT BODY