Bones and All

Through its meandering, and unnecessarily long 130 minutes run time, there were flashes of Romantic poetry and European/Italian romance, but those cinematic beauty were lost amidst a story that tried to do -and tell - too much. 

At its core, Luca Guadagnino's latest Silver Lion-winning film was a teenage love story with a cannibalistic horror bend, and yet he and screenwriter David Kajganich had to squeeze in elements of a horror comedy,  road trip buddy movie, coming-of-age story, all the while whilst trying to build up an urban fantasy myth and backstory. And lest not we forget the familiar strains of family drama and psychological crime thriller. Cutting out three or four of these strands and focusing on a simpler story would have made this film so much stronger.

This thread of young love was previously last explored by Guadagnino in his awards-winning Call Me By Your Name and the subliminally underrated series We Are Who We Are. So we know he has the chops to tenderly navigate the emotionally choppy waters of first/young love. 

And again, he had two great stars - Taylor Russell was charismatic and magnetic and definitely an actress to keep an eye out on, and Chalamet has already proven his chops (although to be honest, he has yet to really establish himself as an actor-actor). But where Guadagnino failed in this case was that firstly, their chemistry was fluctuating and at times absent; secondly, Guadagnino obviously favoured Chalamet who, perhaps unfairly and unconsciously, outshone Russell in a film that was ostensibly her story; and lastly, just not enough time was spent exploring their relationship to each other.

Hey, but at least we had Mark Rylance who dialled the creep-o-meter up to 12 and a creepily fascinating Michael Stuhlbarg in an entirely unnecessary scene of lore building that had no genuine pay off. And of course an almost unrecognisable Chloe Sevigny in an extended cameo as she waits for her next big thing.

The score was by Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose, and for once I struggle to remember any significant/memorable moment from it; cinematography was by Arseni Khachaturan and there were some beautiful lit scenes especially those in the golden/blue hours.

Bones and All will get some indie-awards love, but it will be a long shot for any Oscar glory. I would rather watch all 8 hours of We Are Who We Are again.