Horror is a genre that is often overlooked come awards season. The hugely successful genre, which had helped many studios keep afloat during the pandemic, is always looked down upon. Year after year the lack of nominations for horror titles is disappointing, and whilst most of this year’s stellar genre crop will likely go vote-less, there is one film that stands a chance: Bones and All.
The latest collaboration between director Luca Guadagnino and star Timothée Chalamet, Bones and All is an adaptation of Camille DeAngelis’ novel of the same name. It charts the coming-of-age story of young girl, Maren (Taylor Russell), who isn’t like other girls. A new girl at school, Maren is facing more than the usual problems of making friends, she also, on occasion, enjoys the taste of human flesh. After a troubling incident at a sleepover Maren and her father flee town. The next day, Maren discovers she is alone. The only sign that her father existed is a cassette tape. Armed with this tape, and new knowledge about a mother that she has never known, Maren sets out on a cross country journey to discover the truth about herself. Along the way she encounters others like her for the first-time and with it an entirely new set of problems…
The pairing of Russell and Chalamet is intoxicating. Their performances match one another breath for breath. It also helps that the camera loves them. As much as the pre-release hype for Bones and All has focused on Chalamet, it is Taylor Russell who owns the film. Maren is a complicated cacophony of emotions; Russell separates and highlights each of them. Thrust into the world alone, Maren has to navigate the terrain as she seeks out her place in it. Russell’s performance is calm and collected, every nuance meticulously agonised over to produce a compelling and utterly absorbing lead character. It is paramount that Russell possesses this ability as the star-power of her co-star would otherwise drown her out.
Chalamet gives yet another golden performance. Bones and All is Maren’s story, but as Lee, the young actor oozes charisma. Whereas Maren is full to bursting with emotions and plagued by guilt and regret, Lee initially appears hollow. He is the classic ‘rebel without a cause’ archetype, exuding cool and style with little substance. As the story progresses, his proximity to Maren softens him and she is soon peeling back his emotional layers. There is far more to Lee than his initial cocksure nomad appearance, and as his truths are revealed, the audience fall for Lee right alongside Maren.
Giving both Russell and Chalamet a run for their money is Mark Rylance. The actor is a perfect chameleon and here the BFG and Bing star gives a performance that is the personification of chilling. His character of Sully drifts in and out, but each and every time he is on screen, he is all the viewer can focus on. As Sully, Rylance has the demeanour of a Stephen King villain. Sully would fit right in alongside Doctor Sleep’s Rose the Hat. Though firmly a supporting role, his on-screen presence is insurmountable and is an instant source of future nightmares.
The romance subplot of Bones and All is captivating, but it never overshadows the main narrative. Guadagnino is careful to not get too swept away in the burgeoning romance between Maren and Lee. Whilst the pair may be maddeningly infatuated with one another, this takes the backseat on several occasions. In these moments Bones and All embraces its darker urges, and It is in these sequences that the film ascends to greatness. An early finger scene to rival Raw opens the door to horror. This is later followed by a creepy encounter with fellow ‘eaters and an excellent dalliance with a carnival worker. Guadagnino uses these moments to showcase a panache for skin crawling tension. One of them is nail-bitingly terrifying and it is just a simple exchange of dialogue. It is the unhinged nature of its delivery that gets the pulse racing. Another is a cyclone of sensuality and violence that teases and tantalises.
Visually gorgeous, Bones and All captures the grimy arid air of mid-western American. The narrative plays out within the framework of a road movie meaning plenty of opportunity for sun-drenched landscapes. Guadagnino captures all the majesty that the heartland states have to offer. The scenery is startling, its natural beauty juxtaposing with the bloody facades of Maren and Lee. Cannibals and sun-scorched asphalt immediately conjure comparisons to Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark. It is a valid likening, but Bones and All errs more on the ethereal side.
A strange nostalgia coats the style; Blood and All is set during the eighties. The timeline is never explicitly stated, but it is implicit by the use of cassette tapes and Walkman. The soundtrack further affirms the time period with the inclusion of Duran Duran’s ‘Save a Prayer’, Kiss’ ‘Lick it Up’, and Joy Division’s ‘Atmosphere’. This older setting helps sell the cannibals in love through-line as we all romanticise the past regardless of what horrors it is hiding.
Although rightly rated an 18 in the UK, Bones and All subverts outsider expectations of horror. Those with a keen affinity for the genre know that these films don’t have to be frightening. Nor do they have to be excessively gory. They can be beautifully life-affirming. Bones and All certainly aligns with the latter. Despite its horror trappings this story is as affecting as any traditional coming-of-age drama. A gateway horror for the art-house award-following, Bones and All bridges an important gap, one that will hopefully not only reap rewards, but will also help lessen the needless stigma that has been attached to horror.
Bones and All
Summary
An affecting and mesmerising road movie cannibal rom nom-nom, Bones and All is a late contender for film of the year.
Bones and All is in cinemas across the UK now.
