Beauty and ugliness are seemingly two opposing things, but what happens when you combine them? What you get is Bones and All. The very title alludes to this, it refers to a quote from the film when a man is describing the extreme high he gets from consuming a human, bones and all. Yet towards the end of the film this very line is tenderly spoken between two lovers as one of them bleeds out in the arms of the other. This stark contrast is where the film’s power really shines through, and the audience can experience the true brutality of identity and life.
Based on the book of the same name by Camille DeAngelis, Luca Guadagnino’s film could be easily summarized as a romance between cannibals. It follows Maren Yearly (Taylor Russell) as she tries to navigate the world as a cannibal, abandoned by her dad. She runs into Lee (Timothée Chalamet), a fellow cannibal, and the two form a deep connection due to their shared identities. Together they go through life and its many trials and tribulations while trying to reckon with a world in which they are not meant to survive in.
Luca Guadagnino does not hold back on the grittiness. Clearly this movie is dealing with an incredibly off-putting subject, and it should be presented as such. The viewer expects to be disturbed and violently thrust out of their comfort zone, and thankfully this film does that. It absolutely does not hold back from assaulting the eyes with an onslaught of disgusting imagery that makes one nauseous and feeds their nightmares. Yet at the same time it’s a very gentle film, again highlighting this contrast between beauty and ugliness. The viewer floats by serene southern landscapes accompanied by the gentle soundtrack from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Along their excursions, Lee and Maren find themselves falling in love, and the way this love is presented is so tender the viewer can’t help but find themselves invested in their relationship. It focuses more on the subtleties of love than in-your face extravagance like other films might. It’s in this subtly that you uncover the unbreakable bond between two humans lost in the terror of the world.
Timothée Chalamet is an actor of such high status that in every film he’s in there’s the concern of whether he’s going to fully take on the character he’s playing or just seem like he’s playing himself. He absolutely becomes his character in this though and totally shines, there’s so many facets to Lee that he explores wonderfully. It also can’t go without mentioning the incredible performances from Taylor Russell and Mark Raylance (playing Sully). Taylor is able to so perfectly reveal the deep internal conflict her character is dealing with, while at the same time giving such a quiet performance. Mark Raylance’s performance was so incredibly uncomfortable that the viewer squirms every time he’s onscreen. Raylance portrays insanity with such precision. The cinematography by Arseni Khachaturan is soft and carries a retro 80’s feel, it is drenched in a strong feeling of nostalgia which perfectly accompanies the bonding of two lovers on screen. The setting of small-town America and the simultaneous charm and eeriness of this environment is amazingly carried through.
This film is asking what to do when one’s very identity is at odds with the world and how to come to terms with this. It answers this through love. Love is the armor to face a world that shuns you, it’s the cure to the ugliness around you. The beauty of love doesn’t remove the ugliness of the world, but it provides you with a tool to combat it. Through showing the beauty in the worst grit and grime of this world the film gets to the meaning of love, not an escape from reality but instead a response to the harshness of reality. The message of the film claims that you will not give into the ugliness but instead combat it with the beauty in the bond with another person.
4.5/5 Stars