‘Bones And All’ Review: A Meaty Film About Cannibals

If I were to sum up with one word what the best way to describe Luca Guadagnino‘s filmography would be, it is that they are all about one thing: love.

Every one of his films is about love in some way, shape, or form, whether in its purest state in Call Me By Your Name or in its darkest in Suspiria.

All of Guadagnino’s characters desire love in some way, and in each of his films, he explores just how powerful love can be. Everyone is deserving of love because it comes from everyone, and the Italian director’s latest film proves that anyone, even cannibals, can get a piece of that meaty action.

Bones and All is a romantic horror film directed by Guadagnino, which stars Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Michael Stuhlbarg and Mark Rylance. The film follows a young cannibal girl named Maren (Russell) who, after being abandoned by his father (Andre Holland) when she turns 18, goes on a road trip across the United States to find her mother.

Along the way, she comes across a fellow cannibal, or eater as they are referred to in the film, named Lee (Chalamet), who agrees to travel with her until eventually, they develop a budding romance. This is a film that manages to be both one of the most romantic films of the year and one of the most disgusting films of the year, and as a fan of both the romance and horror genres, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bones and All follows in the footsteps of many great horror romance films like Thirst or Only Lovers Left Alive in that what makes a movie like this great is the ability to balance both distinct genres. There’s enough romance in Bones and All to satisfy fans of the genre, but the film also has plenty of other things to offer that prevent it from being just simply a sappy, cheesy romance movie.

Similarly, there’s enough gore and cannibalism that will satisfy even the craziest sickos in the world, but the film doesn’t indulge in its cannibalistic bloodlust to the point that it becomes a trashy, B-horror movie like Cannibal Holocaust or Green Inferno. Guadagnino manages to pick apart the best aspects of both genres to create an experience that manages to be both familiar and unique at the same time.

On a technical level, the film is just so excellent made as every aspect from the performances to the cinematography to the directing to the writing and everything in between is just top-notch. Guadagnino has proven at this point that he is a master of his craft and after highlighting both his skills in romance with movies like I Am Love and Call Me By Your Name and his skills in horror with films like his Suspiria remake, Bones and All feels like the ultimate culmination of everything he has worked on.

This is a beautifully made film with an engaging story and interesting characters that will leave audiences enthralled and entertained from beginning to end. In the hands of a different director, this would have been such an incredibly trashy film littered with unlikeable characters, and the fact that Guadagnino made me feel sympathetic towards cannibals of all people proves just how talented this director is.

While there are a couple of moments where the film dragged for me personally and certain characters were either underdeveloped or just simply did not need to be in the film, this is still an incredibly well-made movie that everyone should see.