Every so often, a celebrity documentary does more than just entertain — it pulls back the glossy curtain and lays bare the pain and vulnerability behind the fame. Netflix’s new three-part docuseries Victoria Beckham is one such moment. Amid the glitz of fashion shows and the glare of red carpets, what emerges is a portrait of a woman who, for years, fought a brutal internal war: “When you have an eating disorder,” Victoria Beckham admits, “you become very good at lying.”
From her earliest days in theatre school, Beckham felt judged — for her body, her weight, her appearance. Being told to lose weight, being whispered about, judged by tabloids: all of this fed a voice that told her she wasn’t enough. After she had her first son, Brooklyn, six months in, she was weighed on national TV. Beckham says she “lost sense of reality” looking in the mirror, constantly asking, Was I too fat? Too thin?
This was no short phase. Victoria describes years of tightly controlling what she ate, obsessing over clothes, and trying to manage how she was seen — all while hiding the truth from those closest to her. She never told her parents publicly; she never admitted the extent of her illness. “I had no control over what was being written,” she says, so what she could control became weight, appearance, and lies.
The mental toll was devastating. Picture being constantly criticized — called “Porky Posh” then “Skinny Posh” by media outlets — while trying to hold onto some version of yourself. Beckham says these labels cut deep, undermined self-esteem, and stoked insecurities about every move: how she looked, how she dressed, how she walked. She put on a public facade of perfection and composure, even as she was crumbling inside.
What’s perhaps most heartbreaking is the dual life she led: the public image of success and style, and the private struggle with identity, self-worth, and a ceaseless feeling of never being enough. At times, controlling her weight or her appearance felt like the only thing she could master, since everything else — the media, public opinion — felt uncontrollable.
Still, there’s a current of redemption running through the documentary. Victoria doesn’t ask for pity — she seeks understanding. She revisits her rise from pop star to fashion designer, the marriage, motherhood, public scrutiny, business failures, and reinventions. She acknowledges that controlling every detail of appearance was “incredibly unhealthy,” and that hiding her disorder from family and friends required an emotional cost. But by speaking out now, she hopes to reclaim her narrative — and offer a voice for others who may have been hiding their truth too. Victoria Beckham is more than celebrity memoir; it’s a brutal, honest statement about the price of perfection.
If you’ve ever felt invisible under expectations, or found yourself hiding parts of yourself from others for fear of judgment, this documentary may hit very close to home. Because behind every poised image, every fashion label, every perfect photo — there are untold stories. And hers finally have a chance to be heard.
