Hello everyone!
It’s already been more than a month since I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Bones & All premiere at the Venice Film Festival. I’ve been thinking about writing this review for weeks now but turns out it’s harder than I expected. Nevertheless, after re-watching the film at the London Film Festival, I’ve decided to finally share my personal, not professional at all, opinion on it. Let me start by saying that, if you still haven’t done it, you should really read the novel written by Camille DeAngelis, which the film is based on. I had read it before watching the film and I really enjoyed it, the plot was so intriguing and the characters were deeply and thoroughly explored in the book.
But what about a film? I didn’t know what to expect but believe me when I say it exceeded all my expectations.
I honestly think it’s one the most fascinating films I have ever watched. Even though cannibalism is without any doubt a huge part of the film, it is dealt with more as a metaphor. Don’t get me wrong, there are gory and not-so-easy-to-watch scenes, and it is very graphic, but it all takes on a new meaning. So, please, don’t let your skeptical thoughts stop you from watching it.
There’s more, way more than that. It’s a story about isolation, marginalisation, abandonment, and discovery. Through the way of such an unfamiliar and obscure subject Luca, and everyone involved, managed to portray the most common, universal human feelings and experiences. it’s impossible to feel neither affected nor involved by it. Maren and Lee are two young souls looking for their place in the world. As far as I know, I am just like them, and probably many of you are too. I still have to find where I belong, or whom I belong with. The film has all the distinctive traits of a coming-of-age drama, describing that feeling of emptiness typical of teenagers, their desire to feel accepted for who they really are and to feel loved. From the first moment we see Maren and Lee together it’s clear that they’re very different, Lee seems more confident, and he has rules, while Maren is basically new to this and still has to figure out how she’s going to deal with it. Throughout the story they will help each other out, Lee guides Maren through it and she helps him open up and show his most vulnerable side. They will end up complementing each other. The film also depicts life on the road, with both ups and downs. Maren and Lee drive around American country roads, meet many people, discover more about their past and find the answers they were looking for or, at least, some kind of answers. What I think is the most profound aspect of it is that, despite the brutality of the world, despite their insatiable instincts and their constant fear of being judged, they find in each other someone who gets them and makes them feel like they deserve to be loved. Luca Guadagnino managed to create an authentic cinematic masterpiece, with his acute sensitivity, he perfectly combined the most macabre flavors of a horror film with the delicateness and deepness of a romantic one. Last but not least, I’m still completely amazed by the performances of the lead actors. Taylor Russell carried the whole film, she’s spectacular, very intense in every scene, and capable of letting you enter Maren’s inner world. I’m really looking forward to seeing her in more projects. Timotheé Chalamet outdid himself this time, we have definitely never seen him like this before, he’s charming, scary, and deep all at once. A sense of shared understanding is tangible between them, and their chemistry is undeniable. Mark Rylance’s character, Sully, is absolutely terrifying, mysterious, and disturbing, he did an amazing job portraying him, there’s no doubt about that. ps: you’re not ready for the last scene, believe me. Let’s be people. Kat
written by Kat
Truth be told, writing a review has never been this hard. I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts and feelings for the better part of the past week hoping to put together an honest review of Bones& All. Not a review that would necessarily favor Timothée or Luca, even though it’s inevitable, but something coming from the heart hoping to reach hearts.
I walked into Sala Grande with very high expectations not only because I’m a massive fan of the horror genre but curious about the inherently unique genre blend. Not often we see horror and romance paired together and yet, Luca seamlessly combines the best of both worlds creating a deeply emotional narrative. Luca beautifully weds the ick factor of Suspiria and the summer of young love of Call Me By Your Name. I left the screening with a shattered heart and a broken soul, it went above and beyond what I expected. The movie dives into a much more emotionally absorbing narrative than I could’ve ever predicted.
Raw humanity is put at the forefront shown through the characters’ experiences and actions. Even in the most violent and gruesome moment, there’s a humanization of the characters and their flaws, and it becomes easier to empathize with them - Luca let you know where these characters morally stand and what’s crushing their souls. Tragically compelling.
There is a ton of gore and bloody scenes intertwined with serene moments between characters contemplating who they are and what pains them. This movie is a gentle caress, a pat on the back reminding you that there is no need to hide your genuine self and that you are not alone. The movie follows two kids, Maren and Lee, as they embark on a thousand-mile journey across the back roads of America in the 80s who also happened to be cannibals. Despite their best efforts, all the roads lead back to their terrifying nature and pasts. They will have to make a stand on whether their love can survive and overcome their otherness. Even the spaces and landscapes are an allegory for the vastness and openness of their choices. They are disenfranchised in every possible way not only existentially. In this pre-internet era, the only way they are seeing the world is through a lens molded by their own curse. Raw emotions are brought by Taylor as Maren, she carries the whole movie on her back giving a breathtaking performance. Maren carries around this enormous sense of guilt that eats her away(pun intended!), she has these urges and afflictions that have already taken away so much from her however she trusts her own moral compass and believes in the lines she won’t cross which is in contrast with Lee. Lee is a maverick, trying to hold his foot down and own the trajectory of his life with futility and hopelessness, a truly broken soul. What makes this love story compelling, just like any other, is the tragedy that lies within - their flaws constantly crashing with one another,their self-loathing, and loneliness that comes in the way of trying to find themselves. Someone else who isn’t unlike anyone you’ve seen before is Mark Rylance who plays Sully, an immensely creepy character with a perfect balance of sinister and glee. Absolutely eerie to watch as he comes in and out throughout the movie. The movie takes us on this journey in discovering not the normal vs the different but how they are able to find themselves through each other’s gaze despite their extreme circumstances. It’s about identity, overcoming the fear of understanding not only oneself but the other. “Love is actually what saves us and set us free”, a line from the movie that reflects the longing to be seen and loved and their inherent humanity affirmed through the mirror of their love. Lee and Maren’s cannibalism has something strangely innocent about it, it’s not just the act itself but a metaphor. A metaphor for anybody that feels the otherness within their own skin and can’t seem to fit in a box in a time where being accepted is a constant need. Afraid to be authentic because of judgment. It's about secrets and anyone who had one and tried to keep it and felt isolated by it. There is a line that goes “the world of love wants no monster in it” and that beautifully captures this devastating tale of two wayward souls navigating life in constant rejection but also in pursuit of love. Bones& All is macabre and heart-wrenching with gorgeous contrasts, and visual rawness with moving themes about our eternal desperate search for emotional connection in a unique genre blend. It’s a bizarre reflection of today’s society where often we feel like outsiders in our bubbles, overwhelmed by the media, afraid to be our authentic selves because of fear of judgment. If you made it to the end, give yourself a pat on the back cause this was one hell of a review, longer than I expected it to be. Thank you for reading and I want to sign off by reminding you that when the time comes to go to the movie theater, go with an open mind. Not everyone is going to enjoy it, but let yourself be transported to the America of the 80s on the notes of Joy Division, let yourself be frightened and touched by these two lost souls. You’ll laugh and cry and leave the theater with a broken heart. It’s gonna be tender as it’s gonna bloody. With love, Stef
written by Stef
Bones&All...
I never thought that writing a movie review could have been so difficult, I have been sitting at my desk in front of my computer for three long days trying to collect all my thoughts to make sense of them in the best possible way, then I realized that certain feelings, perceptions, and emotions are not always matched by precise terms so today in writing this article I would like to create new ones and reinvent some of them with the hope of accomplishing the noblest task of all: to reach the heart of those who will read.
My first thought as I approached the plot of Bones&All was definitely wondering (as a huge horror movie fan) what kind of horror movie I would witness and in what way there could be a love story related to this, this is not because in horror movies there cannot be any but because I was intrigued by the element of cannibalism and Luca’s choice in wanting to represent it explicitly.
We have seen quite a few movies about cannibalism lately, just think of a title like "Fresh" starring Sebastian Stan, and in relation to that, I wondered if I would be looking at something gore with a touch of romance or if at something completely different which I had yet to learn about.
Bones&All was a revelation and not a revelation for horror movie lovers, the horror element for me took a back seat when I was brutally struck by the emotional power of Guadagnino's references; this movie is not a movie about cannibalism to talk about cannibalism, it is not a horror movie to intimidate the viewer, rather I perceived it as a warm caress in time of need, like that hand that when you need help reaches out to you and reminds you of the simplest and most banal of concepts: "you are not alone." The story stretches along the life span of Maren (Taylor Russell), a shy and reserved girl who is the main character and embarks on a journey to find her mother in order to understand more about herself and her impulses, the further she goes, however, the more she realizes that the real and only place where she will be able to find the answers she seeks is within herself, that she must learn to process her trauma and stand on her own two feet by accepting her nature. Along her journey, Maren encounters various like-minded and, to say the least, disturbing characters such as an old man named Sully (Mark Rylance) who in a crescendo of tension, ambiguity, and disquiet gives an extraordinary performance to the viewer, and later Lee (Timothée Chalamet) a confident young man who shares her own nature, what we would call a true "outsider" like Maren on the other hand but with the difference that he is willing to do what he has to in order to survive and this way of life is more familiar to him than it is to Maren who by her inclination tends to seek answers, help, and certainty in him as well. Along these lines, Lee agrees to help Maren in her search and the two embark on this on-the-road journey in 1980s America, completely disconnected and isolated from the rest of the world in which to survive they must feed on others and steal their possessions. The reflection to be made about their nature is minimal when one considers that cannibalism in this film is an act in itself, a simple metaphor used to represent our traumas, what we carry inside as a secret, and the inability to move forward and show ourselves to the other in fear of judgment, in fear of not being accepted and being left alone, ostracized just like Lee and Maren because of their nature. Timothée and Taylor in this give us a breathtaking performance, the chemistry between them is indescribable, Maren teaches Lee to open up about the traumas of his past in return he teaches her how to survive in this cruel world in which they both seem to be victims and perpetrators, thus reminding us that to love ourselves is to be mirrored in each other's eyes, which helps us keep our feet on the ground and reminds us that despite our traumas, our mistakes and the uncontrollable impulses that we cannot escape, we are worthy of being loved, that there’s always some good even in what we do not accept about ourselves. This is a movie about the search for identity in which two lost souls in search of a home understood as a "place of the heart" set out together to find themselves and end up finding themselves in each other. Luca Guadagnino in an interview talked about how difficult it is to this day to understand everything that is different because it is far from us and that because of this there is a generic fear of finding the other in its entirety, here in Bones&All every such barrier is broken down, the real winners are Lee and Maren, two travelers lost in their identity and the inexorability of their nature, which shred of humanity is confirmed by each other; Bones&All is macabre, gory, frightening but also euphoric and speaks clearly to all of us about the most unique and simple human desire: that of being seen and loved for who one is, and it does so in a subtle way, full of metaphors where every raw and violent part is answered by a caress, a shy smile, and no matter how absurd Lee and Maren's nature may be, I know that it will be easy for each of us to go beyond that, to see through that and feel much more like them than anyone else, especially living in a society like today's in which being "different" is scary. So I close this humble review by reminding you not to go to the cinema with prejudices about this movie, let yourself be frightened, horrified but most of all surrender to this love and this film that is "hungry" for humanity more than humans. "Love can be the protector of our loved one’s solitude, carving out that space." Taylor Russell @tchalaworld