Filmmaker Claire Ayoub’s Empire Waist hits theaters September 27 and if it’s available in a city near you, you should make time to see it—probably more than once. This coming-of-confidence festival darling emphasizes body acceptance through various storylines but its protagonist, Lenore (played by non-binary actor Mia Kaplan), is at the heart of it all.
Lenore is a super-talented fashion designer with a closet full of beautifully made garments. However, she doesn’t wear any of them, for reasons she reveals in act two of Empire Waist. When her new biology partner, the confidently fat Kayla (Jemima Yevu), discovers the collection, she immediately encourages Lenore to put her talents to work making custom pieces Kayla can wear to school. Lenore reveals that her passion for fashion began with learning how to make clothes for paper dolls from her graphic designer dad (Rainn Wilson), who eventually bought her a sewing machine, though she’s never shared her clothes with anyone before.
Kayla’s bold, bright new looks attract much attention. Biology teacher Ms. Hall (Jolene Purdy) is thrilled to see Lenore and Kayla become friends, and she immediately begins encouraging Lenore to come out of her shell, make more clothes, and enter the Fashion Institute’s New Designer Showcase (FINDS), which is the main story arc of the movie. If Lenore wins, her designs will be shown at New York Fashion Week. Better yet, her mission to empower everyone who wears her 100 percent custom-measured and -made clothes to feel “confidence, power, [and] capable of anything” will be recognized on a massive stage.
Empire Waist is brilliant on multiple levels. It’s a realistic portrayal of what it’s like to navigate the world as a fat teenager and a beautiful exploration of how unlikely friends can build each other up and make each other better. Its commentary is so, so welcome, especially in the wave of anti-fat rhetoric surrounding weight-loss drugs in pop culture right now.
Empire Waist Demonstrates the Pervasiveness of Anti-Fatness
Before seeing Empire Waist, take note that anti-fat comments are heard throughout the movie and there are scenes of intense bullying that include a mass text containing an intimate photo of one of the characters. There’s also a potentially triggering scene at a doctor’s office involving a scale.
The opening sequence of Empire Waist reveals a young Lenore jumping rope in gym class and being mocked by her classmates for how her body jiggles when she moves. Then the film flashes forward to the present, where she explains her means of being as invisible as possible to get through each day in one piece. A major component is her wardrobe, which is all-black everything to make her disappear.
When Kayla steps into the picture and starts wearing Lenore’s custom designs to school, it draws particular attention from the relentless bully Sylvie (Isabella Pisacane), whose anti-fatness extends beyond mocking Lenore and Kayla for “taking up too much space.” She also polices her friends’ food choices—at one point taking a full-fat yogurt away from Tabyana Ali’s character Honor—and repeatedly reinforces anti-fat myths about “health” and “discipline,” indicating that her dedication to thinness is somehow a moral good.
Sylvie isn’t the only one. Lenore also faces anti-fat bullying at home, from her exercise-obsessed mother (Missi Pyle). Lenore’s dad is seen hiding snacks like peanut butter in the ceiling while her mom makes multigrain green smoothies and repeatedly pressures Lenore to lose weight. She’s deeply indoctrinated into diet culture and clearly struggles to embrace her daughter as she is, fat and all. This relationship is particularly difficult to watch as it unfolds because of how familiar it feels; intergenerational body-shaming is so common, and I know these scenes will feel like a gut punch to many in the Empire Waist audience.
Without revealing too much, I want to reiterate that Empire Waist is about body acceptance. Anti-fatness is a prominent theme that’s explored on a few different levels, but the characters are given space to deal with it in their own ways and have immense support from each other as they navigate these difficult waters. I cried through a significant portion of this film both because I related so intimately and because I was so relieved to see complex, fat characters with layered emotions who are allowed to be human.
Friendship Is At the Heart of Empire Waist
Although Empire Waist tackles hard topics, it’s also deeply centered on shared joy. Lenore’s designs attract a ton of positive attention, with classmates snapping photos of Kayla in her new clothes and Ms. Hall immediately jumping on the hype train. Lenore and Kayla make surprising friends with queer wheelchair user Marcy (Daisy Washington), tall trans icon Tina (Holly McDowell), and quiet but powerful Diamond (Kassandra Tellez). Photographer Charlie (Aric Floyd) gets involved when Ms. Hall recruits him to take lookbook photos for Lenore’s FINDS application, and the group slowly expands from there.
As more people begin to wear her clothes and Lenore learns that she doesn’t have to lose weight to pursue her goals, she slowly transitions from wearing all-black everything (her “widowed mall walker” look, per Kayla) to incorporating muted colors and even patterns into her everyday ensembles. Eventually, she becomes bold enough to wear the clothes she makes, in a series of mostly understated but deeply impactful, evocative scenes.
The Empire Waist ensemble cast has stunning chemistry. Every performance shines and it’s impossible not to fall in love with Kaplan, Yevu, Washington, McDowell, and Tellez, especially when they’re all in scenes together. They each face struggles with their bodies and help each other find confidence not just in how they look and dress, but in how they move through the halls of their high school—which, as a teenager, comprise so much of the world.
Kaplan and Yevu, in particular, portray the kinds of best friends who forge their connection in the fires of high school hell and will never let each other go. Their bond underscores every moment of love and celebration throughout the film and makes each hard, heavy moment feel that much more intense.
I’m also deeply impressed with Wilson’s role here, as he takes on the position of Lenore’s most ardent supporter before she becomes friends with Kayla. He loudly celebrates her and her talent and immediately extends that energy to her friends and their effort to win the FINDS competition, even when there are major obstacles. He balances fun and seriousness well and acts as a voice of reason at key points in the plot, which is deeply needed.
The Takeaway
It’s a genuine joy to see more fat representation hitting the screen, particularly for young audiences. Empire Waist would have changed my life if I had seen it in high school and it likely would have put me on the path to fat liberation much sooner. I cannot wait to see how this movie impacts current and future generations.
Simply put, this movie is great. It’s nuanced and well-balanced, anchored in fantastic performances, and incredibly emotionally resonant. Empire Waist will hit my list of bests for 2024. I think it’s a must-see for anyone who has a body.
Published: Sep 27, 2024 05:54 pm