London Film Festival 2022: ‘Bones and All’ Review
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Jessica Harper, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, André Holland | Written by David Kajganich | Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell play a pair of fine young cannibals in Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of Bones and All, the 2015 YA novel by Camille DeAngelis. Perfectly pitched between the gore-drenched horror of Suspiria and the dreamy romance of Call Me By Your Name, it’s a stylish, sexy outlaw drama that plays like Badlands with bite.
It’s a shame that only a handful of people will watch Bones and All without knowing its central premise, because the opening sequence contains a brilliantly shocking fake-out. Set in the early 1980s, the story begins with 17 year-old high schooler Maren (rising star Taylor Russell, from Lost In Space) sneaking out for a girly sleepover and getting very cosy with her female classmate, in a scene that seems like it’s setting up a charming, intimate and female-focused coming-of-age / coming-out story. That mood is then abruptly shattered when Maren suddenly bites off her best friend’s finger, which quickly forces her to leave town with her world-weary dad (André Holland).
Not long afterwards, on her 18th birthday, Maren’s dad abandons her, leaving behind a cassette tape that explains a past history of similar incidents, including biting her babysitter when she was a young child. Maren soon discovers she’s not alone – there are other cannibals out there, who refer to themselves as “Eaters”, and she finds herself taken under the wing of seasoned cannibal Sully (Mark Rylance) before meeting and falling for dishy Lee (Chalamet), whose various appetites get them both into trouble with the law.
It’s often said that a large part of good direction is tone control and Guadagnino gets the balance exactly right here, expertly handling the gore and horror moments, but never letting them become the main focus of the story. More importantly, he sustains a powerfully romantic atmosphere throughout, with the cannibalism doing multiple metaphor duty, standing variously for teenage alienation, addiction and transgressive appetites and desires.
Russell delivers a star-making performance as Maren, investing the character with a heart-breaking air of melancholia – her need to find herself and belong to something set in stark contrast to the violence and visceral horror of her own predilections. Similarly, Chalamet is excellent as Lee, sparking strong chemistry with his co-star and exuding effortless charisma, whether he’s excitedly dancing to Kiss’ Lick It Up in a bedroom or chomping away at his latest victim.
The supporting turns are equally delightful. Rylance is simultaneously amusing and uncomfortably creepy as Sully, while Chloë Sevigny is splendidly cast as Maren’s mother, whose story serves as a stark warning of her daughter’s future. However, the stand-out is Michael Stuhlbarg, playing brilliantly against type as Jake, another sinister Eater Maren encounters on her travels – it’s Jake who gets the title-centric speech about completely devouring your victim, eating them “bones and all”, a no-turning-back point when it comes to cannibalism, symbolic of complete surrender to your desires.
In short, Bones and All has future cult movie written all over it, a superbly directed, beautifully acted and achingly romantic tale about young lovers who eat people. Delicious.
**** 4/5
Bones and All screens this weekend, October 8th & 9th, as part of this year’s London Film Festival.
