Bone Lake

Domestic thriller much in the vein of Speak No Evil - polite smiles, social discomfort and sexual tension.

Setup's simple and effective: two couples accidentally book the same remote vacation rental. Could've been the premise for a rom-com - but a quick hunter-vs-prey prologue rails us off with the promise of blood to come.

It starts off a bit clunky (dialogue, acting, even the sex), but steadily finds its footing. What begins as mild awkwardness turns into a seductive and manipulative erotic thriller - just a bit too polite for its own good: it simmers, but never quite boils.

A few twists, more or less predictable, but the fun part comes when the third act drops the pretense, grabs an axe, and drenches everything red. Chainsaws, flying limbs, and some good laughs - the whole thing slips from Speak No Evil to splatter comedy without blinking.

A little clumsy, a little clever, but entertaining once it cuts loose.

I got to see this in a special screen unseen and it reminded me of a very watered-down version of fifty shades of Gray with a touch of Friday the 13th. It started out. Really cool in the first 5 minutes but then it just droned on with very predictable storylines and subpar acting.

If you're looking for a splatter fest or an intelligent horror thriller then this isn't the lake for you.

Clever marketing had me thinking this was gonna be something it wasn't. I don't mind twists if it's set up with decent characters and a good story line.

The erotic scenes threw me off and lots of sexual themes for a movie that's supposed to be horror. Two couples end up in a mansion both have rented and decide to stay. That's the only set up I'm giving away. What I enjoyed were the quirky characters we are introduced too as well as why they call it bone lake in the first place.

There's some terror, gore, unexpected sexiness with skin shown, and a gruesome scene which you'll have to see for yourself. Above average little indie horror movie about human relationships--at least I think that's what they're trying to tell us. Could also be a movie you can wait for streaming too.

Bone Lake is the kind of "horror-thriller" that thinks it's clever because it borrows ideas from clever films. You'll immediately recognize familiar setups from Barbarian (double-booked rental and they decide to stay with the unfamiliar party) and The One I Love (couples confronting relationship woes and get a lake house as therapy only to start not trusting each other), and many others, but without the originality, tension, or emotional payoff that made those films memorable.

Despite a decent setting and a momentary uptick in energy around the hour mark, the film is weighed down by a weak script, flat performances, and a complete lack of suspense or scares. It feels like a patchwork of better movies with the edges left rough and the soul missing.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you need background noise or a reminder of how important good writing is to genre filmmaking.

Bone Lake is one of those films that looks and feels like it's about to go somewhere dark and thrilling but never quite dives all the way in. Directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan and written by Joshua Friedlander, this indie horror-thriller premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2024 before making its wide release in October 2025. It's stylish, atmospheric, and well-acted, but it also feels a bit too restrained for its own good.

The story follows Sage (Maddie Hasson) and Diego (Alex Roe), a couple looking to rekindle their relationship during a romantic escape to the secluded Bone Lake. Their peaceful retreat turns complicated when they're forced to share a lavish mansion with another couple... Will (Marco Pigossi) and Cin (Andra Nechita) whose charm quickly slides into something much more sinister. What begins as a slightly awkward double date turns into a tense mind game where trust, temptation, and truth blur together.

The marketing for Bone Lake sells it as an erotic thriller, but aside from the provocative opening scene-which features a moment that will make most men instinctively cross their legs-the "erotic" aspect is surprisingly mild. After that opening, the film shifts gears into something closer to a psychological relationship test than a steamy thriller. The tension simmers but never boils, and while there's a constant sense that something is off, it rarely hits that nerve jangling level you want from a film like this.

That's not to say it's a bad movie far from it. Maddie Hasson and Alex Roe give strong, grounded performances, and Andra Nechita and Marco Pigossi bring an unsettling energy that keeps things interesting. Mercedes Bryce Morgan's direction is confident, with moody cinematography that captures both the beauty and unease of isolation. You can feel the influence of films like Speak No Evil and The Rental, where the horror comes more from social discomfort and suspicion than gore or jump scares.

Still, Bone Lake feels a bit too safe. The film teases danger, seduction, and psychological warfare, but often pulls back right when it's about to get good. It's an "almost" movie-almost erotic, almost scary, almost profound. What's left is a decent watch that scratches the surface of deeper, darker ideas without ever taking the plunge.