TWIGGY – Review by Monique Jones

Sadie Frost’s Twiggy is a great watch for fashion fans and, more specifically, Twiggy fans. I liked learning more about her and seeing that she was who I thought she was–funny, self-deprecating, and without airs. I feel like, to paraphrase one of the people interviewed for the film, that her genuine spirit is what helped catapult her to stardom. She might have been one of the world’s most iconic fashion models, but she still remembered her working class roots.

I do feel that two hours 30 minutes is too long, though. Maybe it’s just me, but my attention span stops functioning well when a movie goes past an hour and 30 minutes. I also feel that a movie has to justify that time span–if it starts waffling, I feel that means there needed to be stronger editing. If a movie is two hours or more, I will always feel that something could have been cut or pared down to make the story more impactful.

Also, while I appreciate Twiggy being a part of her own documentary to add much needed personal context, I feel that the film overall is glowing to a fault. There are some darker times in Twiggy’s life that are talked about in the film, but I feel that they are glossed over in order to get back to the fun parts.

I was also waiting to see how the film would handle criticism Twiggy has faced over fashion houses reinforcing her naturally skinny body as the preferred body type. She addresses it some, and fairly enough, says that she didn’t go into fashion to change how people viewed their own bodies. That was the work of others. Indeed, someone who is naturally skinny can’t control the body type they were born with. However, I thought the conversation deserved at least a little bit more than just a few sentences.

Overall, though, Twiggy is an informative and fascinating watch to understand how Twiggy came to define fashion for decades through her own personal style and sensibilities.