Bones and All

Before I start this review, I have to admit I have a soft spot for Luca Guadagnino and his directing style, which really speaks to me on an emotional level.

The movie is not perfect, but I enjoyed watching it, as to me this mixture of gory horror and on the road romance is quite new.

The plot is quite thin and the pace of the movie is slow and indefinite, but to me this is not negative: in the two hours of screentime I was never bored, and I sort of felt like I was on the road along with the protagonists.

The lead actors were really good, and in my opinion this was one of the best performances by Timothée Chalamet, whose chemistry with Guadagnino is undeniable. I think he was particularly suited for this role, because his innocent face and body perfectly communicated the nature of his character, conflicted between his monstrous instincts and his good heart.

The best performance was anyway delivered by Mark Rylance, whose creepy character Sully was great for keeping the tension high throughout the whole movie.

I really loved the poetic atmospheres of the road trip scenes, so typical of Guadagnino.

The negative aspects that can't be denied are the poor development of the characters, which makes it hard to root for them, and the quality of the dialogues, which are often shallow.

Personally I didn't appreciate the ending scene and the related dialogue especially.

Despite some negative specs, I would absolutely suggest seeing it, if you don't mind some pretty gory scenes.

As a massive admirer of Luca Guadagnino's work, it saddens me to say that Bones & All is disappointing.

Even though the cinematography and atmosphere are beautiful and what you would expect from the visual master, the film suffers from tonal shifts and a very talky script that is only saved by a fantastic turn by Mark Rylance. His menacing presence is the feature only redeeming quality.

The narrative is overstretched by a terribly slow pace reinforced by wooden dialogues between lovers that don't have much chemistry to begin with. Timothée Chalamet is clearly miscast as his sweet and soft demeanor don't match with the supposed danger and inner violence of his character.

Star of the show, Taylor Russell is beautiful and haunting. She also carries much of the movie on her frail shoulder. But the underdeveloped family moments and repetitive travel adventures don't help to build much of her personality. So when we get to the core horror aspect of the movie it mostly fails. Most "gory" moments are contrived, shoehorned inside the romance. They are too few, tonally all over the place and end up underwhelming.

After the masterful Suspiria, I was really expecting Guadagnino to deliver on the horror front but I think he got sucked away by the gorgeous landscapes and forgot to build up tension or fear. Bones & All ultimately ends up being a tiresome teen romance road trip interrupted by bizarre gory scenes. I will just rewatch Kathryn Bigelow's masterpiece "Near Dark" which I think would have been the perfect inspiration.

This movie had no explanation, no plot, no good story. Literally looked like I watched a longer trailer. It was so bad that people walked out and my friends and I were next. I'd Rather watch Bob Ross painting a picture than watch this again. The director could've done so much better. It was poorly edited, seemed rushed, the vibe was weird. Literally felt like it was filmed and edited with technology from the 70s. None of it was scary, just bisexual people eating flesh and falling in love with eachother. I was greatly disappointed. Don't waste your time going to try to watch this movie even if you have nothing else to do.

Two birds of a feather with a common appetite, living in the shadows with a curse they try to fight, struggle to give in, to temptations that spellbind, an addiction of the mind that leaves them hamstrung and confined; finding others with dependencies more practiced and distilled, whose lives have little meaning, all alone and unfulfilled, helpless and exposed by the hand they've all been played, the promised life and expectations, all diminished and betrayed.

Some great performances but all eclipsed by Taylor Russell who is outstanding as the conflicted Maren struggling to come to terms with who she is and what she can and cannot do about it.

I had high expectations for this film given some of the cast, especially Timothée Chalamet, who never disappoints. I was really excited to see this movie given the controversial and disturbing topic that attempts to combine romance with its horror. I am so frustrated by the fact that I truly believe this could've been "a win for cinema", as a famous critic has stated the movie was. I felt like all the pieces of the puzzle were there, but they didn't make a picture. Like others have said, there were so many plot holes, build-ups that lead to nothing, and cramped scenes with little time to involve yourself in the characters. The connection between Maren and Lee didn't feel believable, nor did it feel like they were given enough screen time to make that happen.

It felt like the director tried to capture too much in 2 hours and it ended up being a scattered slideshow of artsy scenes with gore and confusion. The 5/10 stars I give is for the acting, mainly on the part of Chalamet and Rylance. My other 5 is lost to the direction, editing, and script of the film.

The trailer and hype was 10x better than the movie itself, so all you need to watch is that. This could've been a true masterpiece, and I desperately wanted it to be. I found myself trying to be convinced it was good, but ultimately faced the honesty that it fell through. A chance for beauty, lost to the wind.