Bones and All (2022)

The best horror is the horror that speaks to our human condition, that touches a nerve with our real life fears, passions, assumptions, usually wrapped up in something fantastic or horrifying. Bones and All is that sort of horror, a story drenched in an otherworldly cannibalism but about something far more real, about trauma (wait, wait I know that's a horror cliche right now, but this is different) and surviving abuse, and intergenerational violence. I haven't seen a horror movie, or any movie, deal with this in such a powerful way. 

Guadagnino isn't afraid to upset his audience and while one could argue Bones and All is rather restrained in its gore, it doesn't shy away from making sure we know what is going on. He is rather selective with what he shows us and what he doesn't, balancing the need for us to be confronted and fairly disgusted, with the art of suggestion which is often even more upsetting than seeing it. I was rocked while watching Bones and All and I pride myself with being fairly unshakable. And I think this says something about the power of the film, which makes us feel it. Bones and All doesn't give us gore to laugh at, an easy out for most horror films. What we see is terrifying. 

A lot of what makes Bones and All so challenging is the way it makes us care for the characters doing the horrible things. We empathize with Russell's Maren despite what we see her do, or perhaps because of it. We are terrified of her and at the same time see her humanity. It is a very uncomfortable position to situate the audience in, and when the film reaches its logical conclusion the moment is both terrible and beautiful but horrible all around. Bones and All asks a lot of its audience and doesn't let us off easy. 

I am not often a fan of Guadgnino's work but here he has tapped into something fascinating and beautiful while also scaring me, something films rarely do. His cannibals are not realistic, they share characteristics with movie vampires or zombies, and are presented more for their metaphoric potential than their realism. This isn't an examination of humans eating each other. It is symoblic of something else more close to home, about self-loathing, self-destruction, abuse, and other forms of violence we do to ourselves and to those we love. And that is why the scenes are so horrifying, more than what I see in a slasher film by far. 

Russell is, as everyone is saying, revelatory in this film but the entire cast is remarkable, even when they only have a few moments on screen. Stuhlbarg stands out especially in a role that just made my skin crawl. Everyone brings their A game but Russell is very much at the centre of this and delivers a career making performance. 

Bones and All will be one of the harder films to watch this year, but is also one of the most rewarding if you can manage it. It is a game changer. 

Bones and All

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, Jessica Harper

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writer: David Kajganich