God. I’ve wanted to see this movie for so long. I read the book a few weeks back, which made my excitement for this double. Luca Guadagnino’s work on Call Me By Your Name entranced me in its world and swallowed me up whole, and I can say with Bones & All, Guadagnino QUITE LITERALLY does that again.
SYNOPSIS: Abandoned by her father, a young woman named Maren embarks on a thousand-mile odyssey through the backroads of America where she meets Lee, a disenfranchised drifter. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.
I have problems with this film, problems that I usually would be quick to pounce on and elaborate in a review like this. But, somehow, so effortlessly and easily, I just don’t care about them in comparison to how much this film accomplished for me. Maybe some of the exposition tactics are overutilized and rushed, maybe there’s too much story jammed into this thing at times, and maybe the protagonist wasn’t as fleshed out as I would’ve liked her to be by the end. But the magic of this film at its highest points made all of that go away, and I was effortlessly glued to the screen and wrapped up in this world that Guadagnino has crafted.
Taylor Russel is great as Maren in this movie, and I think she perfectly captures the essence of the character on screen with the script provided. But MAN Timothee Chalamet as Lee, from his very first scene, is one of my favorite embodiments of a character I’ve seen all year. I’m consistently impressed by just how recognizable Chalamet is as an actor, and his ability to absolutely just disappear into a role while still inhabiting his own charm and characteristics into a character, and I think this performance is the most prominent example of that. His development was strong, and at times it almost seemed like this story was about him as opposed to Maren, which was slightly offputting, but I enjoyed his character so much that it wasn’t hard for me to get on board with the narrative.
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’ score is beautifully haunting, and I know I’m not the first person to say that, but there couldn’t be a more well-characterized definition. In some of the most heartwrenching scenes of the year, it swells beautifully in observance of what’s happening on screen, and in some of the most horrifying scenes of the year, it creeps up and shouts at you, nearly overpowering the scene itself if not for the film’s stunning visuals.
The cinematography here captures everything so beautifully in a way that’s reminiscent of CMBYN’s fly-on-the-wall shots, but somehow this feels more intimate, more involved. The lighting is immaculate in every scene, and the movie being shot on film adds a whole other level to the grit and grime of this blood-stained American frontier odyssey. Certainly one of the best-shot films of the year.
This movie does operate as sort of a body-horror film at times in its presentation, but its subtle execution of that fact is never overbearing in any sense. This affliction these characters have is not by choice, and the film never glorifies what they have to do in any sense, but rather reluctantly shows it in a calculated way that I thought was horrifyingly effective. At times you will squirm while watching this, but it’s never grotesque, which is a fascinating accomplishment, but a faithful representation of the novel. (While I won’t get into the novel here, I would say the film is an improvement. There are small things I think the book accomplished more effectively, but so is the translation of art to art: It’s all subjective. I do highly recommend the book however, it’s a quick and easy read!)
Bones & All chewed me up and spit me out, tore me apart, and stitched me back together. It’s poetic horror, it’s all-consuming love and the hunger to be known, all portrayed through a lens that feels so purposefully intent. Guadagnino’s take on this engaging, and fascinating tale of what it means to be an outsider is hauntingly beautiful from beginning to end, and I couldn’t have asked for a better adaptation, flaws and all.
9/10
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