Maren, a young woman, learns how to survive on the margins of society.
Chuck says:
Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” is the matter-of-fact way its atrocities are committed. Reminiscent of John McNaughton’s “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,” the film’s killings occur in common places – apartments, houses, abandoned buildings – the unsuspecting going about their workaday chores and activities, unaware of the brutality occurring just feet away, only a door or wall obscuring the horror within. It’s the casual manner in which the characters are killed – and then eaten – that gets under your skin.
Yes, in time for the holidays is this cannibal romance, a road movie with young lovers on the run. Had Terrence Malick and George Romero collaborated on a film, the result might have been similar to this. And while the story is captivating, up to a point, as well as beautifully shot, it proves problematic as well. Based on the YA novel by Camille DeAngelis, the screenplay by David Kajganich loses its way during the third act. The story meanders, coincidence is used a bit too often to expediate events, logic just so much collateral damage.
Set in the mid-1980’s, Maren (Taylor Russell) finds herself alone, abandoned by her father (Andre Holland) who’s left her an audio tape upon which he’s recorded secrets from her past. Seems that from the age of three, after having attacked her babysitter, he kept a close eye on her, reasoning the affliction his wife suffered from had been passed on to their daughter. The penchant for eating human flesh is not constant with Maren, but the cravings are becoming more frequent. The information provided by her father is sketchy, so she sets out to Minneapolis to track down the mother she never met.
It’s on her journey that she encounters others like her. Sully (Mark Rylance), an eater who keeps trophies of his victims, lets her know her sense of smell will sharpen so that she’ll be able to sniff out fellow flesh-eaters. Lee (Timothee Chalamet) advises her to only kill loners, so as not to leave any one to grieve in their wake. He also shows her how to steal to survive and keep on the run, covering their tracks by sticking to back roads and small towns. As these lessons continue, love blooms.
While Guadagnino strives to create something unique, the shadow of far too many other films hangs over it. “Badlands,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Raw” and most any other teen romance you can think of come to mind, yet there’s no denying that for its first hour, it’s a brilliant exercise in horror. Maren and Lee live in the shadows, and as shot by Arseni Khachaturan, the film has a perpetual pall over it, small patches of light perpetually threatened by the dark places where Maren and Lee exist. A sense of dread dogs the couple as well as regret, no happy ending in the cards for them.
The script gets off, needlessly separating the couple and then holding out hope they will achieve some sort of domestic normalcy. Obviously, this is not to be, and Guadagnino wastes far too much time getting us to its predictable conclusion. The inexplicable reappearance of a character from the couple’s past doesn’t help the story’s credibility either.
Still, there’s no denying the film is hard to shake. Chalamet and Russell’s passionate performances provide an emotional anchor that helps the film through its rough patches, while the final scene, though graphic in its violence, proves haunting. “Bones” may be flawed, but in the end, it draws you in and consumes you.
3 Stars
Pam says:
If you think this is just (and I use the word “just” very loosely) about cannibalism and young love, you’d be mistaken. Shockingly, “Bones and All” is a deeply disturbing story not just about addiction, but also isolation, identity, and rejection. The effects of these issues are at the heart of the story as Maren and Lee find one another amidst a world in which they have no rule book to follow. While the graphic nature of their “targets” is disturbing and unnecessarily so, the story it tells is one that is provocative and indelible. Unfortunately, writer and director Luca Guadagnino takes this narrative in the wrong direction during the third and final act, creating inauthentic situations and an ending not worthy of its beginning.
The cast delves into their odd roles, relishing their peculiarities, especially Michael Stuhlberg and Mark Rylance. While Rylance is familiar with portraying the peculiar, Stuhlberg is almost unrecognizable as he takes on the part of Jake. Rylance’s sick and twisted performance as Sully can’t be shaken and of course, Chalamet looks at home in his role as Lee, an outcast whose emotional guard is as thick as a concrete wall. Taylor Russell, a relative new-comer, creates a mesmerizing character of Maren as she is not only abandoned by her mother, but also tossed to the curb by her father. Her performance creates a deeply layered complexity that just might land her in the category of awards’ nominations.
2 1/2 stars
