New doc reframes Marilyn Monroe through her hidden endometriosis battle

End of the Cycle, a new documentary about endometriosis starring Amy Schumer, Julianne Hough and others, asks viewers to reconsider Marilyn Monroe's life through her hidden struggle with the debilitating condition. Co-director Sammy Jaye said at a screening at the Whitby Hotel, "The way she’s been portrayed all these years has not been accurate." The film points to Monroe's multiple miscarriages, "mystery" hospital trips and a reputation for being "difficult" as likely connected to chronic pain.

Jaye noted that Monroe suffered in an era without medical or social support: "If anyone mentions Marilyn Monroe in a negative way, you can revert back to this and know that she was going through [the disease] at a time when she couldn’t have said anything, and there wasn’t social media." The doc includes a chilling example from April 1952, when Monroe taped a note on her stomach before an appendectomy reading, "Save please (I can’t ask enough) what you can – I’m in your hands.

marilyn monroe, endometriosis, amy schumer, julianne hough, documentary, sammy jaye, miscarriages, chronic pain, appendectomy, whitby hotel