Directed By Luca Guadagnino

Starring – Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance

The Plot – A story of first love between Maren (Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter, as they meet and join together for a thousand-mile odyssey which takes them through the back roads, hidden passages and trap doors of Ronald Reagan’s America. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their life-altering otherness.

Rated R for strong, bloody and disturbing violent content, adult language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity

BONES AND ALL | Theatrical Trailer – YouTube

POSITIVES

Adapting a novel pertaining to cannibalism isn’t the most prestigious or rewarding task, but Guadagnino embraces it with eagerness, bringing with him another mesmerizing direction that not only paints consciousness inside of this very dark and devastating world with strange and unusual characters, but also tweaks it categorically in ways that pay off immensely for the film’s presentation. On that front, “Bones and All” often feels like a bodily horror film persisting inside of an independent romance, with interpersonal framing, a soft but scintillating series of music compositions from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, which sounds unlike anything else they’ve scored to date, and a rich documentation among its cinematography from first time Luca collaborator Arseni Khachaturan, that each vividly paint a false sense of security tonally and thematically throughout the luscious canvas. In addition to this, Luca conjures a thickly ominous tone in consistency through some of the film’s darker moments, yet a warm and tender one during scenes of intimacy and growth between the dual protagonists, and they both evolve and generate naturally in the depths of an unpredictable narrative with plenty of emphasis on life’s many internal and external spontaneities. Most of this is adapted from the novel of the same name brilliantly from screenwriter David Kajganich, who scatters the familiar pieces before putting them back in an entirely fresh and innovative manner that pays off immensely for the exposition. Some will consider these exposition dumps, but for my money the device of having Maren play back a pre-recorded tape from her father not only conveys the vital information about her past that we unnecessarily don’t need to experience, but also simultaneously illustrates her characterization before our very eyes, in turn transcribing emphasis to her actions and trust issues in ways that we coherently interpret with her vantage from a different perspective. On the subject of the much-publicized gore and brutality, the film honestly didn’t cement anything new or stomach-churning from the collection of zombie movies and David Cronenberg films from the 80’s, both of which feel influential to the imagery elicited here. The violence is minimally dispersed and often tastefully (For lack of a better word) executed, saving its boldness for the moments they can be felt the sharpest, and the ensuing crisp definition of the production’s sound design continuously teases our imaginations audibly with what we’re not seeing visually. Where the film does get a bit risqué with its gore is in the final fifteen minutes, where a climactic battle wages unforgiving circumstances to a deserving character. This indulgence is treated as more of a reward for the way they constantly make the audience feel, and because they distanced it sporadically between a 130-minute run time, it proves that Luca and company aren’t just about shocking the audience, instead remaining faithfully devoted to the story first, which continuously builds towards those bold and expressive moments. Finally, I found the casting of everyone to be pitch perfect with how they’re described in the novel, however it’s the work from Russell, Chalamet, and especially Rylance that elicits something challenging and disorienting for the air of consistency in their respective careers. Russell’s usual watery windows to the soul are balanced with an internal longing and loneliness that almost immediately register empathy to the character, despite her sometimes-barbaric instances of feeding. For Chalamet, the typical charisma that we’ve come to expect from him is still on full display, but this time the clutches of his character’s past inside of an abusive situation comes to fruition in ways that articulate his frailty, without sacrificing the dagger of his devastation, which nonetheless make him a deadly and determined force of nature when his hunger calls for such. Then there’s Rylance, an Oscar winner in his own right, but here adding further discussion to next year’s status, with a completely transformative performance that is summarized as every bit slimy as it is commanding for the way he holds a scene and tone kidnapped by his presence. Rylance screen time is limited, but his effect is maximum, channeling a diverse side of his demeanor that I honestly didn’t see him capable of, all the while zeroing in on the vulgar and unforgiving circumstance of feeders at their most voracious.

NEGATIVES

With “Bones and All” being a novel that I read and thoroughly enjoyed before seeing the film, I embraced a 130-minute run time that allowed me ample opportunity to live and grow with these characters, but after seeing the complete picture now, I can easily see where some will be alienated where the violence didn’t for them. For my money, the second act of this film, during the pivotal love story, remains consistently dormant for a bit longer than I would’ve expected or enjoyed. As previously alluded to, I understand that the goal is to flesh these characters out in ways that make them feel like living, breathing entities, instead of fictional characters, however when the scenes themselves feel arduous and even a bit prolonged in their execution (As seen in the meandering finale), the necessity of soaking everything in begins to weigh heavily on the patience of its audience, spacing those moments of unforgiving gore in ways that might not sit well with horror hounds like myself, who were promised one thing, then delivered a complete other in the finished product. Beyond this, My only other problem with the film pertained to some logical leaps that occasionally get the better of a few unavoidable conflicts. Such an example pertains to a few character motivations along the way, which were better fleshed out in the confines of the novel, than here with the film, which hems a bit too much of that natural exposition. In particular, Maren’s initial trust in Sully, as well as well as a surprising absence of law enforcement and lawful consequences made this an occasional leap to logic that garnered too much suspension of disbelief in the established environment, in turn emphasizing the aforementioned pacing gaps in entertainment value that could’ve been alleviated with developing and increasing urgency of a life constantly on the run.

OVERALL
“Bones and All” is a fascinatingly unsettling experience that eats away at your stomach and heart with unrelenting voraciousness. Decorated with a remarkable ensemble and production values that stimulate the audaciousness of the presentation with immersively introspective insight, Guadagnino once again certifies one of the most unforgettable engagements of the year, proving that love bites us up, but rarely ever spits us out.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+