Film Review: Bones and All

A film of impoverished survival that tenderly tackles the beauty in bloodshed. Bones and All explores a burgeoning romance between young-adults, Maren and Lee, set against the backdrop of a folk-tale-esque horror as the two attempt to navigate their cannibalistic compulsions. Guadagnino’s film takes a tour of rural 80’s America with a precise, aesthetic focus on the beauty of American traditionalism. 

Beginning in the wake of a slow montage of nature paintings inside a high school display and closing out to a wide pan fade into a winters sun setting this film cloaks you in the familiar, cosy colour gradient most associated with the popular, fluid sub-genre of “warm, comforting films to watch when feeling a little lost”.

The entire film is saturated with this sense of soft southern pleasures. From the velvet adorned lampshades, the floral wallpapers, and the Walkman recording which pushes the plot along, we are lulled into a warmth that is consistently contrasted with the cold discomfort of killing. And it is truly a spectacle of just how much the audience connects style with substance. Because, although each character we come across in this film engages in morally corrupt cannibalistic ritual, we cannot help but develop a sensitivity to their depravity. 

In modern mainstream cinema there seems to be an emerging crisis of creativity, where it’s increasingly difficult to find new releases that can balance plot development with an “artsy” integrity. Guadagnino tackles this well by integrating plot with shot. The plot develops alongside slow shots of quintessential American beauty. We watch the turn of nature alongside the turn of character. It is subtle, masterful and creates a particularly seamless narrative. 

The focus on the road calls to something deeper, to some desire to detach from dystopia. As a society we grow increasingly more isolated from one another and the predestined purity of Maren and Lee’s shared solitude in an emerging secular society is particularly heartfelt; it seems as though the gross consumption of human flesh throughout acts as a half-metaphor for the way in which we understand our own connections. The way in which we crave someone else who can possibly understand us. So, when the action lulls and it's just two confused youths touring America attempting to define life on their own terms there is a particular poignancy that acts as a soft reminder to the audience to take more consideration, more notice of our relationships. 

Behind any good film lies a good soundtrack. Composer Trent Reznor, pays perfect homage to classics such as Duran Duran, KISS and Joy Division whilst interspersing the film with popular contemporary artists such as; Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Radiohead. The coexistence between new and old here plays off perfectly and sets out a plot that seamlessly integrates itself with the music, rather than the other way round. 

The film fleshes out each individual character distinctly, which is reflected in the expert subtlety each actor brings to their performances. Often in popular western films actors are chosen based on a profit incentive. What big name can generate the highest levels of revenue. This is pleasantly not applicable to Bones and All. Even with Timothee Chalamet, we as the audience can, essentially, tell he had fun. The performances are not wooden, and the freedom and liberty of the actor is transparent throughout, which makes the viewing experience all the more enjoyable. 

I think we can all agree that there is a certain charm to the cinema experience that has grown tenfold more enjoyable post-pandemic. And watching a film focused on physical brutality, emotional delicacy, and the aesthetic value of 80’s America surrounded by the collective shock, sadness and laughter of an audience was truly something special.