I was provided tickets to an advanced screening in order to facilitate this review.
This story is based on the real-life of Brittany Forglar. She was a 28-year old overweight woman who had reached an age in her life where it felt like her life was at a stand-still merely existing and everyone else had something going on. She goes to the doctor to score Adderall, when she is hit with the hard truth that her lifestyle of partying, poor-eating habits and avoiding physical activities is leading to long-term health problems. Brittany lives with Gretchen, a social media influencer, who is happy to have her be fat funny friend that she can be rude to without really caring about her actual feelings.
Brittany finds looking in the mirror hard which can be something that people of all sizes struggle with. Since she cannot afford a gym membership, she decides to start running outside instead. With trying any new habit, the first step can be the hardest. She tried to psych herself out, thinking that she would look dumb in her workout clothes or not be able to physically run at all. She ended up befriending a woman, Catherine, in her building that she had perceived to be judgy, who also was a runner.
Brittany, Catherine and another novice runner Seth decided they were going to run the New York marathon. With a shared mutual goal it helped keep each other motivated. The support system, even though Brittany couldn’t see it as that, really helped give Brittany the confidence to start changing her lifestyle. She prioritized running instead of going out partying. Since the gym membership was out of her budget she got a second job as a dog sitter.
When someone is making physical changes to themselves, sometimes the mental hurdles that go along with it can be the hardest. Not because Brittany was fat but because of how she saw herself, Brittany needed to figure out how to love herself. She carried past trauma from her parents divorce and her father’s death. She had to rid herself of toxic friendships and learn to fully let in the friends and family that were around wanting to support her through her set backs and accomplishments. Brittany also had to learn to not be a selfish, narcissistic friend. At her dog sitting position she ended up moving into the un-used penthouse with the night-time pet sitter Jern. They became friends first and then more than friends.
When making changes to our health, skinny shouldn’t be the goal but Brittany Runs A Marathon reminds ourselves that loving ourselves is the most important thing regardless of size and to celebrate all the wins that come our way regardless of how small they may be. This movie will make you laugh and cry and hopefully inspire you to find your own personal marathon.
