BONES AND ALL (2022) – Timothee Chalamet’s worst movie to date!
Rating: ⭐ 1/2

I had an issue with Bones and All right from the onset. I noticed that the plot for the movie is deceivingly devoid of any mention about flesh eating people or cannibalism even though this is central to the entire story. Instead, they described the film as being some sort of love story between two social outcasts. I find this deliberate act to conceal the nature of the story a reflection of how little self-confidence the film makers have. They probably feel that the cannibalism reference would turn off many viewers. Viewers who are familiar with the source for the film, the 2015 novel by Camille DeAngelis by the same name, would at least go in with the right expectation.
Timothee Chalamet has a growing fan base who would undoubtedly enjoy anything in which he appears. Here, he reunites with the director of “Call Me By Your Name,” Luca Guadagnino. That film launched Timothee Chalamet to stardom and established Luca Guadagnino as a director to watch. Can they duplicate their success with Bones and All? Not for me, as I found this completely unwatchable. This is in direct opposition to the majority of film critics who gave the film positive reviews. Hopefully, people aren’t just giving thumbs up and liking this based on the director’s and Timothee’s names.
The entire movie is depressingly serious and slow. I find it difficult to sympathise or identify with the characters when the entire premise of the existence of people who eat raw human flesh (“eaters”) walking and living among the rest of the human population feels so out of place. No explanations were given as to why these “eaters” exist, but our two star-crossed lovers seem to run into them on their road trip across America on a regular basis. As a result of this background, several gory killings occur that seem more at home in horror porn movies than in a romantic arthouse love story. Viewers with a broader perspective might interpret this as a metaphor for themes of being marginalized by society because of one’s differences. However, I personally feel that this theme is not difficult to depict, and that the apparent need to inject the interpretation with twisted and violent subject matter is unnecessary and distracting to the movie’s core message.
Taylor Russell plays the young girl “eater” who runs away from home in search of answers about the source of her compulsion to eat human flesh. She meets fellow “eater” Lee (played by Timothee) and develops a romantic relationship with him. But Taylor and Timothee just failed to project any on screen chemistry, making their love story feel unconvincing. The ending was completely absurd involving another side character, “eater” Sully, who somehow feels the need to stalk the young “eater” across the country!
This is not something I would recommend to anyone. It is uncategorisable as it didn’t strike me as arthouse, love story, or horror. I have given this an additional half star rating than it deserves for some nice atmospheric moments and moods.