Bones and All

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: November 18, 2022

7.0	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 80 Ratings

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Rebecca31Dec 14, 2022

Maren (Taylor Russell) is a young woman living with her father who is desperately trying to keep her from acting on her urges to consume human flesh. After a shocking incident she is forced to live on the margins of society where she meetsMaren (Taylor Russell) is a young woman living with her father who is desperately trying to keep her from acting on her urges to consume human flesh. After a shocking incident she is forced to live on the margins of society where she meets Lee (Timothée Chalamet). She also encounters the terrifying Sully (Mark Rylance), who plays the character so well your skin will crawl every time he's onscreen. But it's Lee that Maren is ultimately drawn to and they embark on a journey of self-discovery together.

I guess cannibals need love too, but sorry Luca Guadagnino I just couldn't buy into the premise of the movie. Bones and All isn't quite what I was expecting. It's a mishmash of genres that never really blend together and perhaps there is a good drama/romance about cannibals out there but Bones and All isn't it. I feel this might have been a better idea to have this as a full-blown horror instead. Let's be honest, cannibalism is a horrifying topic in itself, it's right there and sure keep the romance as a subplot but condense that aspect, keep the suspense full on and shorten the runtime. Instead you're got two characters discovering themselves through their blossoming relationship but also they're both "eaters" and have the uncontrollable urge to eat people, and after a while the urge becomes so overpowering the only way to satisfy the craving is to find a suitable victim. One half of Bones and All is a very different movie and every now and again you're reminded that these two are living on the outskirts of society for a bloody good reason. There are scenes within Bones and All that are genuinely scary but overall I didn't find that the two genres worked well together. I found myself becoming constantly disengaged with the film as it dragged on and on. My idea of a good cannibal story involves Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lector. Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet are great onscreen together and have strong chemistry. I feel I tried very hard to like Bones and All but I wasn't a fan and was relieved when it finally ended.

I love weird films and particularly stories that try something different but this just didn't work for me at all. It's hard to find an audience to recommend Bones and All to. I can't imagine many fans of Call Me By Your Name are going to like this. The trailer gives you a taste of what to expect but I still found it disappointing. Recommended for fans of Raw, there's a chance you'll enjoy Bones and All.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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hnestlyontheslyJan 10, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bones and All is the movie Armie Hammer would have made if he could have played himself in Call Me By Your Name. "Cannibal romance" as a phrase really hits all the pleasure centers of my damaged brain. I could not resist. So instead of being a good father, I abandoned my family late one night this week and assembled a group of similarly inclined deadbeat dads and friends.

This movie fits into a sort of five act structure, through pairing the main actress, Taylor Russell (from Vancouver! what a life where you have to constantly introduce yourself as "I'm 18 in case you're wondering" when you're really 28) with her costars: father, Sully, Lee, the hospital, and the final act. Russel was one of the very few shining stars of Escape Room, a movie (series!) that capitalized on the emergent (?!) escape room craze of the late 2010s. Her delicate voice belies a confidence and sense of self-assurance which lets her tactfully stand up to the Chief Creep of the film, Sully. Maren navigates Sully's halting talk with tact that contrasts with her comfort and ease when she finally meets Lee. Much of their roadtrip sequences are wordless tableaus of intimacy. Their chemistry is palpable, even though the film does its best to leave Maren un-sexualized except when she feeds, e.g. the way she smells the girl next to her at the sleepover, or the way she lingers voyeuristically out of sight watching Lee work his mark in the Kentucky cornfield.

Cannibalism slots nicely into a metaphor for shameful sexuality and the forbidden, care of Julia Ducournau's Raw. Some extended comparison with Raw feels fruitful. Camille DeAngelis's YA fiction horror romance was published in 2015 and Ducournau's film came out the following year in 2016, which really makes you wonder what was in the water that year that had eating humans top of mind. Raw uses cannibalism in part as a kind of vehicle for taboo sexuality, destructive, anti-social behavior, and unhealthy addiction. Until we learn about (and here are some spoilers) the past history of our protagonist's older sister, we think her obsession must be entirely her own, a horrific but unfortunate quirk. It's only when we learn that her older sister has been coping with and designing ways to live her truth comfortably that the film really takes off. In some ways, Bones and All seems to provide a counterbalance to the loneliness and isolation of Raw, asks the question how could meeting a co-dependent addict change your outlook? Raw feels like it has legs to bear the metaphorical weight of discovery of one's queer identity while also getting a lot of mileage out of the cis-het experience for young women learning how to fit in in college. Bones and All echoes some of the notes of HBO's Euphoria, the exploration of self-loathing and the joys of finding someone who encourages your base instincts rather than counseling you to be better. While we're adding television similarities, look at VE Schwab's short-lived but excellent First Kill found ways to put a spin on the vampire hunt by critiquing the violence inherent in feeding by considering and flipping power differentials of traditional gender roles. First Kill features a sister trying to teach her sibling to cope with her violent cravings.

First Kill, Raw, and Bones are all concerned with the collateral damage of one's violent and secret compulsions. First Kill and Bones consider the erotic elements of those desires, whereas Raw and Bones concern themselves internal struggle. First Kill and Bones consider genetics and family history as a means of explaining urges, whereas Raw, until we are further along, focalizes the experience of recognizing oneself as different and aberrant. Maren expresses a number of times early in the movie her disbelief that there were so many like herself, and that one could smell out others. The concept of "passing" for normal is something that the characters of each of the films and television shows plays with a lot. Luca Guadagnino, director of A Bigger Splash, has made a film that is almost perfect in every way, the perfect date movie, the perfect horror romance, something messy and hot but not unseemly for an audience coming out of a sterile and lonely time.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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moviemitch96Nov 22, 2022

A young girl (Taylor Russell) who discovers cannibalistic urges emerging from within her embarks cross country where she meets and falls in love with a young drifter (Timothee Chalamet), who happens to be just like her. Based on theA young girl (Taylor Russell) who discovers cannibalistic urges emerging from within her embarks cross country where she meets and falls in love with a young drifter (Timothee Chalamet), who happens to be just like her. Based on the little-read YA novel of the same name, I went into this one not expecting much, and that's exactly what I got out of it. The previews and marketing made it look like yet another sappy and cliche-riddled YA romance, and that's pretty much what it was, but it was hard to expect anything more or better knowing it was based off a YA romantic novel. It also very obviously borrows influence from road/crime dramas and films of old, such as 'Badlands' and maybe even a little 'Bonnie and Clyde' mixed in while also heavily sticking to the YA romance formula to try and attract the younger demographic. While we do get a kinda cool musical score from the always reliable Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, along with some great performances from Russell and Chalamet (and even Mark Rylance in a genuinely creepy and sinister role), not even them or their chemistry is enough to overcome the predictable cliches and tropes that far too often accompany YA romance. Furthermore, much like the characters, the film simply seems to just wander with no true purpose or end destination in sight, which felt all the more apparent by the film's end. By the time it ended, I was just rolling my eyes at it all. Overall, it's certainly an interesting (and rather bloody and gross) ride while it lasts, and Russell, Chalamet, and Rylance are great, but none of that offsets the bloody sappiness of the whole ordeal. In short, they could've just as easily called this 'Twilight with Cannibals' and it would've been completely fitting.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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MattyIce34Nov 23, 2022

Luca Guadagnino and Timothèe Chalamet teaming up to make a movie that a cannibal would love? Interesting. Unrelated but anyone know what Armie Hammer thought of this?

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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TyyroneMuggaJan 22, 2023

Interest 7/10
Characters 6/10
Cinematography/Set 6.5/10
Story 6/10
Acting 5/10

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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breakfstofchampJan 15, 2023

There were several things I liked about this movie, but the wooden dialogue, pointless digressions, and relentlessly bleak tone proved too distracting. Mark Rylance was amazing though.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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