Drifters. Lost souls seeking and running; searching and hiding. Can we ever know peace when burdened with a terrible desire? Can we control the monster or must we indulge? Are we looking for a happy ending or simply a moment of respite before the next lap begins? Bones and All, Luca Guadagnino’s follow up to Suspiria (2018) and Call Me by Your Name (2017), tackles a classic trope through familiar framing, but gives it a gnarly horror twist.
At first glance, Bones and All is a romantic coming-of-age tale about two outcasts. We’re introduced first to Maren, played with the right mix of hesitancy and uncertainty, but never naivety by Taylor Russell (Escape Room, Waves). Maren is adjusting to her new life in a small town in Virginia, but it’s cut short after an incident at a friend’s house. In the fallout, Maren and her father have to make a quick escape—in this moment, we know it’s not the first time they’ve fled, and we understand Maren’s burden.
Maren is soon on her own in the world, and as she travels cross country, she meets other drifters who share a similar burden to her own. The first is Sully (Mark Rylance); an eccentric drifter who discovers Maren in the night and teeters the line of helpful sage and possible predator. We’re not certain of Sully or his intentions with Maren. Rylance plays it to great effect as he presents himself as wise to the world Maren has entered, helpful in the moment; but under the surface, it’s hard to be sure. She also meets the star-crossed lover Lee (Timothée Chalamet). We’re introduced to Lee in one moment as a white knight standing up for a woman and child and in the next, as another possible danger when Maren discovers him outside covered in blood. Those familiar with this sort of movie know where it’ll lead next.
Guadagnino’s tale is part of a long line of these sort of road movies that bring wandering souls together: sometimes they simply drift (Easy Rider), sometimes they’re searching for something (Into the Wild), and sometimes there’s danger at every turn and there’s something that just pulls people together (Badlands). Maren and Lee are part of a world they didn’t ask for. There’s a curse built into their DNA and that ruined their homelife. It’s something they can’t run from but that they must learn to live with. They meet people who have wrestled with their burden much longer than them, and they’ve seen their fates played out.
The film is beautifully filmed with plenty of shots of our characters thoughtfully gazing into the distance and closeups that pull us into the immediacy of dangerous moments and situations. And it’s backed by a score from the power duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Social Network; Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). The score often invokes the folksy airiness of these two youths traversing the south and midwest, but sneak in subtle tense builds in moments of danger and turmoil before going back to a little acoustic melody. Their original song penned for the movie “(You Made It Feel Like) Home” feels a bit on the nose, but it’s a nice song.
For those who are more familiar with the horror elements of Bones and All, I would say that those bits never feel too gruesome. There are two main moments where those horrific elements come into play, but they’re filmed briefly. If you’re expecting something more gruesome, you won’t find it here. In fact, the horror elements really seek to reinforce the character moments that stand at the forefront.
At the end of the day, Bones and All is a beautiful tale of two wandering souls destined to cross paths. Nothing feels necessarily new, but it’s got a horror gimmick. But, the thing that really works here is the feeling of uncertainty and underlying danger that runs through the movie. Will it all come crashing down? Will we get a happy ending where our protagonists drive off into the sunset? We’re never really certain until we get there. And I think that makes this potent.
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