Bones and All: Will a Love Story Between Two Cannibals Break Your Heart?

Bones and All

We attended the screening of Bones and all directed by Luca Guadagnino at this year’s edition of the Red Sea Film Festival and we truly don’t know how to feel. The film takes you on an emotional journey, however, you’re gonna come out of it and think: is it okay for me to get emotional in a film about a love story between two cannibals? 

About the Film

Luca Guadagnino is no stranger to controversy, diversity, and movies that are always the talk of every town. He’s also no stranger to exploring the boundaries of what it is human and intimate. However, the question here remains, how can you make something human out of something as gruesome and disturbing as cannibalism? Luca has probably asked himself that question and answered it with Bones and All. The film follows the story of Maren and Lee who meet on the road and fall in love after they’ve left their homes in search of a new one. Maren leaves home after her father leaves her with a tape recounting her earliest memories of cannibalism. The movie follows their story with intimate care to the love they give each other, but also with close detail of their hunger and their tries to satisfy it. 

What We Loved

As a film and a story, Bones and All is a beautiful film that deals with unfamiliar territory. It is beautiful in its visuals, its dialogue, and its amazing range of actors who truly knew how to embody their characters. It is really hard to watch the film and feel nothing. You will flinch at the gruesomeness, you’ll get scared of the characters, you’ll feel confused about their moral code, you’ll question yourself, you’ll be touched by their connection and intimacy, or you’ll just hate the entire thing and that’s okay too, but either way, you will definitely feel something. I think that the fact that the movie doesn’t shy away from the disturbance is what makes it a great film. It is what makes Luca a director that knows how to stretch and explore new boundaries to film. 

Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All has left me out of words, I’ve experienced so many new and contradicting feelings throughout the film, and what I know is that I loved it. It is so great to see such a major exploration within the coming of age genre. All I know is that I loved it because there is not much to say when the story is as new and powerful. 

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