Life is not for the timid. This is the theme of Me Little Me, a character study of a woman named Mya (A’Keyah Dasia Williams). Mya suffers from an eating disorder. Which disorder it is, we’re not given to know. However, we do know she’s on a meal plan as part of an outpatient treatment clinic for her ongoing issues with eating. Atop of her treatment and therapy, Mya works in a profoundly high-stress environment: a rental car dealership. The downward spiral Mya experiences in her story begins when she’s offered a promotion to manager of the dealership. Success, just as failure, can lead to a desire to binge.
Me Little Me intertwines scenes of Mya navigating work, with Mya engaging in learning how to eat properly at her group therapy. These scenes co-mingle with Mya’s attempts at having a social life. Eating disorders tend to be borne out as a reaction to stress. It can also happen that the eating disorder is how the individual replaces the need for love in their life. Mya’s eating disorder stems from some alluded abuse that occurred when she and her sister Rennell (ReSheda D. Terry) were growing up. Over several interactions, we learn there’s a lot of unfinished, unprocessed pain from Mya’s adolescence. Unlike Rennell, who has learned to accept the past and forgive their mother for not protecting them, Mya is incapable of doing that. Clearly, her eating disorder is a continuing manifestation of her refusal to process and move on.
“Mya’s eating disorder stems from some alluded abuse that occurred when she and her sister Rennell were growing up.”
Davis (Clark Moore) her boss at the Rental car company, is another source of tension. Here is a corporate man who is all about the bottom line and numbers. Like most standard-issue Americans, he cannot process mental health or the need for therapy. Davis stands as a wonderful impediment that serves to exponentially increase Mya’ stress level and panic. As we will learn, to our great surprise, Davis also has a sense of compassion. It just doesn’t emerge often.
Me Little Me is Elizabeth Ayiku’s first feature-length film. To create a slice-of-life character study of a woman trying to rise above her pain and trauma is a meritorious effort. While Me Little Me doesn’t quite congeal fully, it does provide a full portrait of its subject, Mya. Me Little Me is beautifully shot in a digital video by Bryce Lansing. As this is an attempt to develop a true-to-life film, the lighting is natural, and there’s a certain warm glow to the South Los Angeles town of Long Beach. Mya’s entire life is encapsulated within the environs of Long Beach. This grounding in a port town with a regular train service provides some neat interstitial shots to cut across Mya’s story progression.
I also greatly enjoyed Me Little Me’s portrayal of group therapy and day treatment for people with eating disorders. In these scenes, we witness a case manager provide both balanced portions of food and proper instruction on how to eat. When a new girl is brought into treatment, the manager Kiki (Xiowan Jin) takes the time to demonstrate how to cut her meat at her intake meal. I found this demonstration of eating disorder treatment fascinating. Little touches like that scene make Me Little Me worth the price of admission.
If you want an intimate character-driven story about a woman battling her mental issues, Me Little Me is for you. This beautiful slice of life pulls no punches in its portrayal of Mya. It is a great first film for Elizabeth Ayiku.