Lonely Cannibals Find Love in Bones and All
The average person has about a gallon and a half of blood coursing through their body. Bones and All will make this fact viscerally felt like no other movie this year. This love story between two young cannibals is about as tender as something with that premise could possibly be, and less squeamish readers should consider giving it a watch while it’s still in theaters.
Taylor Russell stars as Maren, an 18-year-old girl recently abandoned by her father. The two have spent their lives relocating after Maren’s cannibalistic episodes. Now on her own, Maren goes on a cross-country trip in search of a mother she’s never known. Along the way she meets Lee, a fellow “eater” played by Timothée Chalamet, and a relationship quickly develops. Cannibals are a pretty lonely bunch, it turns out, so they cling to intimacy wherever they can find it. The two travel across the country getting into meat-securing misadventures and playing out the beats typical of a coming-of-age romance.
What is impressive about Bones and All is how well it gets viewers to empathize with its cannibal leads in spite of how grizzly the act itself is depicted. Maren and Lee aren’t tactful about it; they are not the type to enjoy a victim’s liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti. The aftermath of a feeding session leaves them feral-looking and crimson-soaked. Maybe that is part of why they are more likable than Hannibal Lecter: they do not seem to relish it. It is a part of themselves they cannot control.
“Whatever you and I got, it must be fed,” says Sully, an elderly cannibal who gives a freshly abandoned Maren some pointers. He ends up stalking the girl and is portrayed with understated creepiness by Mark Rylance. Even this villainous weirdo is imbued with pathos, though, his desperation for companionship rather heart-breaking.
The filmography of director Luca Guadagnino includes the 2017 romance Call Me By Your Name and the 2018 remake of cult horror film Suspiria, so perhaps it’s not surprising that his latest film so effectively executes both coming-of-age romance and horror.
One sequence around the halfway point epitomizes the balance Guadagnino strikes. Maren and Lee take a break from the road to visit a carnival. The two ride the Ferris wheel at sunset and kiss, one of the happier Joy Division tracks playing on the soundtrack. It’s a quintessential scene of young love, but it’s fleeting. Maren says, “I’m hungry, Lee,” and viewers remember what movie they are watching. The next thing we know, Lee is seducing the carnival barker who is soon to be their next meal.
Bones and All joins 2016’s Raw as a part of the coming-of-age cannibal canon. Like Maren and Lee, this genre-of-two is awfully lonely. Who will be next to make a contribution?
Disclaimer: the author of this article is an employee of Violet Crown and received a free ticket.
