Bones and All: Movie Review
Reel Rating: 8.4/10 | 4-min read | Rated R
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ‘BONES AND ALL’
Taylor Russell and Timothee Chalamet (above) as Maren and Lee in Bones and All (2022)
Possibly the most shocking film of the year and the only film to ever make me put my popcorn down. Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All is a handcrafted thriller set in Ronald Reagan’s America that uses cannibalism as a metaphor to tell a beautiful story of love and adolescence. Timothee Chalamet is the bones of the film and the only actor I know of that can literally eat someone on screen and have two women in the audience go “Wow, like, Timothee is so f*cking hot” 🤣
Based on the best-selling novel by Camille DeAngelis, Bones and All tells the story of Maren Yearly, a young woman who wants the same things we all do. She wants to be someone people admire and respect. She wants to be loved. But her secret, shameful needs have forced her into exile. And when her father abandons her the day after her 18th birthday, Maren goes looking for the mother she has never known and finds much more than she bargained for along the way.
I believe you can always tell whether or not a movie is going to pan out by its first trailer. And as soon as Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker” finished playing I had already bought my tickets from Cineplex.
Taylor Russell (left) and Mark Rylance (right) as Maren and Sully in Bones and All (2022)
It’s weird to describe this movie to people who haven't seen it. You want to talk about all these relatable qualities in the film yet immediately stifle others when you begin with “so it’s a cannibal love story…”. But after seeing the film it becomes clear that the whole cannibal theme is more symbolic of one’s self-hatred vs a critical emphasis of the story.
Bones and All focuses on showcasing how true love is experienced through the good and the bad of every person; Making the audience ponder the thought: Maybe love isn’t just discovering the things we like in someone else, maybe we are all just looking for someone to share our demons with?
I find the ability to take something that at the surface level is so shocking and make it beautiful so impressive, it’s insane to me. And furthermore broadens my understanding of storytelling and respect for Luca Guadagnino as a director.
Timothee Chalamet (left) and Taylor Russell (right) as Maren and Lee in Bones and All (2022)
Highlight of the Film: Beautiful Filmmaking
In today’s age of cinema, I always love how raw a Luca Guadagnino film feels. The cinematography, editing, audio mixing, the hand-held camera work, great films are a team effort; and Guadagnino always assembles a great ensemble of cast and crew.
Bones and All is beautiful storytelling from beginning to end, there aren’t many moments where you’re not completely engrossed in the film. And I highly recommend anyone reading this to go listen to some BTS breakdowns or Q&As about the movie because Bones and All really excels in telling the story through the less obvious details. Just as the whole idea of cannibalism is a front, the film pushes you to look beyond what you see at face value to find its true meaning. Another reason why I think this movie will be rewatched for years to come.
Some things in particular that I loved:
It was interesting to see the different ways these psycho-eaters immortalize their actions, especially when it came to furthering the story. You find out a lot about each character based on what they carry on them. The character costumes do a lot of talking about their own backstory and personality. We learn very early on in the movie that these “eaters” raid their prey’s houses. Mark Rylance’s Sully carries around this braid with the hair of his victims, and Lee’s wardrobe throughout the film is constantly changing from his victims, what he’s wearing today could be gone tomorrow. Lee appropriates himself with the clothing pieces of his victims.
I loved the pheromonal aspect of this film, It’s said that our pheromones are our body’s strongest indicator of attraction, so it was a great parallel to take this and apply it to these “eaters”. This was accentuated by great editing, a shoutout to the editor of the film Marco Costa, with every moment making the audience feel how Maren is unavoidably attracted to what is in front of her, whether that be Lee or her next victim. There are heightened moments when you hear her smelling the air, learning to use this new ability to find others like her, almost like a mating dance. And all of these moments just further transcend you deeper into the animalistic nature of these people and this story.
I saw Timothee Chalamet talk about the overwhelming nature of social media during this press tour, and after seeing Bones and All I think I understand where he’s coming from. As a young person, life today feels like it moves at this uncontrollable pace.
Taylor Russell (left) as Timothee Chalamet (right) in Bones and All (2022)
Standout Performance: Taylor Russell & Timothee Chalamet as Maren and Lee
How can you only highlight one character in a love story? as creepy a love story as this is. I don’t see a situation where there’s only one star in a Luca Guadagnino film, he perfectly casts his characters to compliment each other’s abilities, and the chemistry between Taylor Russell and Timothee Chalamet bleeds through the screen…literally.
Both Maren and Lee particularly fight their identity and they’re trying to find a place in the world that could contain them, despite who they are and what they have to do by the sheer power of their nature.
I’d never seen Taylor Russell in anything before, though I hear she’s great in the Lost In Space (2018) series which I still need to watch. But in my opinion, she was so well cast as Maren, it’s odd to describe this but her sheer look, her facial expressions, and her hairstyle were so impactful at further immersing me within the story. She played Maren with a great sense of innocence and anonymity; Out of every single character, where most felt like their story was outlined from the beginning, or at least had a handle on this “disease”. Maren is truly on a journey of self-discovery, she’s been heavily shut off from the world and the natural experiences of a young girl. Everything and everyone she meets is a new experience, and I thought she did a phenomenal job at communicating that to the audience.
Taylor Russell (left) as Timothee Chalamet (right) in Bones and All (2022)
It was great to see Timothee Chalamet and Luca Guadagnino team up again prior to a Call Me By Your Name (2017) sequel. I will credit Chalamet as a large reason why I went to see this movie in the first place, his acting has become better with each new role he takes on. And given the bizarre nature of this story, combined with how good his performance was, has solidified to me that Timotheé is a bonafide movie star. Undoubtedly the next Leonardo DiCaprio, but with his blockbuster potential, he’ll have the opportunity to be one of the most impactful actors in this new age of cinema. His draw can spur one to go see a film like Dune (2021), then pull it all back and watch a movie like Bones and All (2022). Very reminiscent of DiCaprio who can bring audiences with him to Inception (2008) and then Shutter Island (2010).
What Timothee does so well, is how his body language is so creature-like, almost animalistic. How different Lee in particular acts pre and post-eating, it almost seems like he’s high on what he’s just done. Another add-on to how this movie defined its characters through the brain’s chemical reaction to things like attraction, addiction, etc.
Guadagnino also surrounds Russell and Chalamet with performers who go far bigger and far nastier than they do. And I feel this was intentional, for Maren and Lee to come across “eaters” in all stages of life. To see how others deal with this illness, the extremes they go to, and whether there is even light at the end of this dark tunnel. Mark Rylance and Michael Stuhlurg are incredible in their supporting roles, and while receiving minimal screen time, they truly make the most of those minutes contributing valuable insights and experience to our main characters. Alluding to how a commonality amongst all these people seems to be a desire for companionship. Again, ignoring the face-value context is a beautiful way to communicate what we all experience as humans, we all have demons but simply want someone to share those demons with, and weirdly that’s love.
Mark Rylance (above) as Sully in Bones and All (2022)
There’s before Bones and All, and then there’s after
Oh man, while I sort of had the ending in mind as the story unfolded, it was still shocking to see nonetheless. There aren’t many moments in Bones and All where you’re not engrossed in the film.
I leave this film, not with a new outlook on life, that would be weird. But with a new outlook on love and companionship; this is my ultimate takeaway for anyone who will or has watched this movie. I think especially for the younger audience, Bones and All will reiterate the beauty in the less material things in life. I saw Timothee Chalamet talk about the overwhelming nature of social media during this press tour, and why movies like Bones and All are so important for these things. At the time I didn’t fully understand the relevance, but after watching Bones and All I think I understand where he’s coming from. As a young person, life today feels like it moves at this uncontrollable pace. Bones and All feels like a deep breath of fresh air, it makes you want to go experience new things with new people, and really appreciate the beauty life has to offer, especially when you’re not a cannibal.
Another thing this movie made me realize is that I need to go study US geography. As a Canadian watching the film, I will admit I was guessing where we were located 90% of the time 😂
It was announced recently that Bones and All is getting fast-tracked to streaming, and while I’m happy to be able to rewatch this film again so soon, I highly recommend going to see it in theatres if you can!
As always, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy this film as much as I did! And check out more new movie reviews on our website here