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Film: Bones and All
Year: 2022
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writer: David Kajganich
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell and Mark Rylance
Review:
This was a movie that I learned about originally when I was writing news articles for a website. I didn’t know much about the concept or the story, outside that it was based on a novel by Camille DeAngelis. The idea behind it intrigued me. Also knowing that Luca Guadagnino did the Suspiria remake, that piqued my interest even more. I missed this last year as that two-hour runtime scared me off. Figured I’d check this out for Italian horror month as the most popular co-production that I hadn’t seen.
Synopsis: a young woman embarks on a 1000-mile odyssey through America where she meets a disenfranchised drifter. But all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine where love can survive their otherness.
Now for this one, we start in the halls of school. It is quite interesting that we are seeing painted landscapes with how this plays out. We are following Maren (Taylor Russell). She is a bit of an outcast but she has one friend, Sherry (Kendle Coffey). She invites Maren to a sleepover. Maren relays that her father won’t let her. Sherry tells her where she lives and suggests sneaking out. This goes disastrous though when Maren does. She ends up biting off the finger of her friend.
Maren flees home and her father, André Holland, has been expecting this. He tried to shield and protect her, but ultimately failed. They flee that night. We then jump to when Maren turns 18. Her father abandons her, leaving behind a cassette tape to explain why and her birth certificate.
This becomes a coming-of-age tale and journey for Maren. Her first goal is to find her mother. The town she is from is listed on her birth certificate. She is starting in Maryland and needs to get to Minnesota. She doesn’t have a lot of money though. It is on this voyage that she meets Sully (Mark Rylance), who is the first person like her that she meets. They’re cannibals. He smelled her when she got off the bus and had to meet her. Sully takes her to a house with a dying woman. They both feed on her.
Maren doesn’t stay though. She continues her expedition, much to the dismay of Sully. Her next stop is in Indiana and she meets Lee (Timothée Chalamet). This starts a whirlwind romance as they run off together. They meet others like them and Maren continues the search for her mother. Things don’t go as she planned and not everyone is nice, even if they are like them. We also learn what the term, bones and all, means.
That is where I’m going to leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Now I could have delved deeper into what this movie is about, but I thought that would give you enough of an idea. There isn’t a lot to the story to be honest. What this is more about is Maren and a bit, Lee, finding themselves. This takes place in what I believe is the 1980s. I’m glad that they did that as it makes it simpler to tell the story. We don’t have things like cellphones and if this was set in a modern world, the internet would make things like this much more difficult.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me talk about the characters. Maren has had a difficult life. Her father has isolated her and he comes off strictly. I do like this though because we set up that he is and then we see why immediately. Maren has this insatiable need to eat human flesh. This doesn’t delve into why, but it seems like a genetic thing. Her father loves her, but he can only do so much. I do hate him for abandoning her like he does. As a father myself, it is heartbreaking to see. I also get it though. She doesn’t know what to do with herself so she goes on a mission to find her mother or anything she can about her. I thought that Russell was great in this role. She seems like a young woman who needs to find herself. I’d bet that she is channeling real-life things into this role. I doubt she is a cannibal in real life.
As a story guy, I’d love to know more about what she has. What I do like though is that she learns about it by meeting others like her. There is Sully who seems like a nice older man. There is a darkness about him that I don’t blame Maren for wanting to get away from. Rylance is great in this role as well. To build on her fears, Sully doesn’t disappear completely from this story. I would be remiss to not talk about Chalamet here as well. The bulk of this is her figuring out her feelings for him and vice versa. They also explore more about how to handle their issues since he is like her as well. Unlike her though, he accepts what he is and doesn’t want to explore why which causes problems. Chalamet is great here as well.
Before moving from the story completely, I love that this is a road movie. This does well in setting up Maren and then having her journey. She learns the way of the world as she is out there and it causes her to grow. I did appreciate that. It can be scary with things like meeting Sully or this duo of Brad (David Gordon Green) and Jake (Michael Stuhlbarg). It can be magical as well as heartbreaking with Lee. It is also eye opening with Barbara Kerns (Jessica Harper) and Janelle (Chlöe Sevigny). I’m a big fan of movies like this and it works for me.
Then that should be enough there that I’ll take this to the acting. I’ve already said how good Russell, Chalamet and Rylance are. I also thought that Holland was good in his role along with Sean Bridgers, Stuhlbarg, Jake Horowitz, Harper, Sevigny, Anna Cobb and the rest of the cast. They helped to round this out for what was needed.
All that is left is filmmaking. This is more brutal than I was expecting. We don’t see everything; I should point that out. There is a finger biting scene and close shots of others. This is good framing since it makes it look real. I did appreciate that. It makes what we’re seeing seem like it could be happening. Capturing rural, Midwest United States is also great. Having grown up in Michigan and now living in Ohio, this is where I’m from. I thought that was good. That also helps with the ‘road movie’ feel as well. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed.
In conclusion, I can see why this movie is as popular as it is. There is a good story here. I enjoy the coming-of-age tale and discovering your first love. This is done with the backdrop of being different. If anything, I’d just like to know about the affliction that Maren, Lee and Sully have. It makes me consider reading the novel to see if there is more there. The acting is good though. Credit there to Russell, Chalamet and Rylance. They carried this with the rest of the cast rounding it out for what was needed. This is well made. Special credit to the effects, framing and cinematography for bringing even more realism. I rather enjoyed my time here and would recommend checking this out. Guadagnino is someone that is now 2 for 2 with things in the horror genre that I’ve seen, so I’d see what he does next.
My Rating: 8 out of 10