Though acclaimed by critics, the movie was not a box-office hit when released in cinemas. That said, it could find a bigger fanbase through streaming.
2022 was a pretty great year for horror, with some of the standout entries in the genre released during those 12 months including Barbarian, The Black Phone, The Menu, Nope, Smile and X.
That said, there was another acclaimed scary movie that came out last year that, sadly, was not as big of a box office hit as the aforementioned titles. That film was Bones and All.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino (A Bigger Splash, Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria) and based on a novel by Camille DeAngelis, the horror stars Taylor Russell (Escape Room) as Maren, a young woman afflicted with a strange vampire-like condition that leaves her craving to eat human flesh.
Shortly after her 18th birthday, Maren's father (André Holland, Moonlight) - who has grown tired of covering up for his daughter's crimes - abandons her, leaving the teenager to embark on a road trip across America to find her estranged mother (Chloë Sevigny, Zodiac).
Along Maren's travels, she meets a young man named Lee (Timothée Chalamet, Dune) with the same cannibalistic urges as her, with whom she forms a strong bond. However, she also encounters an enigmatic, sinister older man and fellow 'eater' (Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies) who forms an unsettling obsession with her.
Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell in Bones and All, which is now streaming on Prime Video in Ireland and the UK
An eclectic blend of a road-trip movie, a teen romance and a gory horror, Bones and All is less conventional than a lot of the bigger horror hits of 2022. However, it nails its strange blend of tones thanks to the stylish direction by Guadagnino and the twisty screenplay by David Kajganich (The Terror), with both managing to make viewers care deeply about Maren and Lee while thrusting them into more and more dangerous situations.
The performances across the board are stellar too, particularly Russell's star-making turn as a young woman trying to find herself amid unfamiliar, scary new surroundings. Plus, Rylance and Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name) leave a big impression playing two of the more creepy movie villains of recent memory.
Upon release, Bones and All earned an 82% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Here is what a handful of reviewers said about the film.
ABC News: "A love story about two pretty young cannibals won’t strike everyone as an appetizing dish. But you won’t be able to take your eyes off Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell as they try to reconcile romance with killer impulses on a road trip through hell."
Chron: "For a good long while, Bones and All is rather outstanding, an equally seductive and sinister scavenging of genre touchstones."
Empire Magazine: "Part arthouse-Twilight, part John Hughes-ian coming-of-age romance, part Bonnie And Clyde cannibal remix, part dreamy Wim Wenders-esque road trip. This is gorgeous, gruesome work from Luca Guadagnino."
New York Post: "Both actors [Chalamet and Russell] somehow turn young killers into deeply relatable outsiders."
Polygon: "A gory shocker that comes with plenty of familiar horror-movie elements, but plays far more like a classic road romance."
Time Out: "The beauty [Luca Guadagnino] finds in the savagery of these two outsiders’ affliction merges with the sweetness of a story of first love. Is a heartthrob still a heartthrob if he’s soaked in blood? Here, the answer is yes."
Bones and All is now streaming in Ireland and the UK via Prime Video. You can check out a haunting teaser for the movie set to Leonard Cohen's 'You Want It Darker' right here:
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