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Luca Guadagnino’s 2022 horror romance Bones and All flips the modern concept of a genre blend on its head. A road trip film with elements of cannibalism and love seems like a near-impossible task on paper, so how does this premise not only work but stand out?
This is achieved by not treating the blend as two separate genres mashed together, but as a fully integrated blend of each element. The film’s uniqueness is also driven by its 1980s Americana aesthetic. Its atmosphere, deep character work, and focus on ‘show, don’t tell’ further distinguish it.
The film follows eighteen-year-old Maren (Taylor Russel), who embarks on a cross-country journey across 1980s America to confront her mother after realizing she is a cannibal (referred to as ‘eaters’ in the film). While on her travels, she finds an intimate connection with Lee (Timothee Chalamet), a drifter who accompanies Maren to find her mother. The film’s open road American odyssey creates a compelling and refreshing love story that audiences have never seen before.
“Americana Aesthetic” — Setting & Visual Storytelling
To better understand the film’s artistic success, the understanding of aesthetic ambiance and aesthetics must be defined and discussed. Americana can best be defined as having the characteristics of mid 20th century Amercia.1 This is shown through many tropes, ideas, and material objects or locations. Bones and All covers all of these with an emphasis on the “open road” ideal of America.
Maren and Lee cover so much ground, from the lush woodlands of the eastern United States to the open plains of the Midwest. Many of the locations they visit could be considered Americana (those being county fairs, diners, and watering holes underneath railroad tracks). The aesthetic feels like a perfect backdrop for this story, and combined with this blend, it conjures up a unique film.
“Maren & Lee” — Building A Relationship Through Silence
Maren and Lee are two very unconventional protagonists. Maren’s entire life has been nomadic as a consequence of her cannibalistic tendencies, never having the opportunity to socialize with another person deeply.
The first half of her journey was lonely, except for Sully (Mark Rylance), who leaves a sour taste in her mouth. Sully was the first eater that Maren met on her journey, tracking her down because of her “smell.” Sully craves connection on a basic level, and in turn, frightens Maren with his vague and unsettling dialogue.
The film tricks audiences into thinking this story will almost fully follow Maren as a lone drifter after she leaves Sully. Maren is a new “eater,” and her social nervousness on top of that makes her more passive as a character. Her struggles with right and wrong hinder her ability to survive so much more, but meeting Lee in Indiana really morphs her journey. As an active figure, Lee helps her learn how to actually be a teenager and have fun despite her lust for flesh.
The introduction of Lee tonally shifts the plot, with his quick wit and broader background. Not much is stated about Lee, other than his care for his sister and his first time eating someone was his abusive father. While Lee still has a moral compass, he is much more accepting of the fact that sometimes eaters can’t wait around for someone to die.
He shows care in his actions, but does not verbally show remorse, such as when he found out that a man he killed had a wife and kids. This comes from his roots of killing and eating his father, as opposed to Maren’s timid nature regarding eating a person as is. Being an eater is an instinctive urge, and Maren and Lee navigate this in very different ways.
Maren and Lee’s relationship is better shown through actions rather than words. Lee has a goal of looking for stability, and he finds comfort in Maren as they continue to travel across the country. Their companionship is shown through long, stagnant scenes together more than actual dialogue.
The two’s relationship makes sense, with Maren being an introvert because she never found her place, and Lee being an introvert because of his traumatic incidents in the past. Lee, while introverted, is a lot more talkative, complimenting Maren’s curious nature and therefore amplifying their dynamic throughout the film.
Their silence overall drives their words to have more meaning, leading to the film’s conclusion to have such a greater impact. Writer David Kajganich limits a lot of their conversations until they truly open up to one another. Lee seems untrustworthy to strangers in the entire film, but having Maren meet his younger sister and talk about his family proves she is making an impact on his emotions. Their arc together intricately captures a romance that blossoms unconventionally.
Horror Meets Romance — Balancing Two Genres
Contemporary blends of Horror and Romance have always been difficult to navigate. With examples like 2013’s Warm Bodies or even 2024’s Nosferatu, there’s always been a constant emphasis on the horror aesthetics or visceral nature of the stories as opposed to the romances themselves. The romance in Bones and All is soft and subtle throughout, only really culminating in three scenes, those being in the beginning, middle, and end of the film. When Maren says, “All I think is that I love you” near the end of the film, it feels so impactful, even while being spoken so softly.
Guadagnino masterfully blends the two genres, helping them be truly united. The location is not usually associated with the genre, that being 80s America. The element of horror is more focused on the actions of instinct, not evil. The eaters aren’t committing these acts out of malevolence, but out of survival. The film’s horror sequences don’t feel like they have a mind of their own in the film, seamlessly integrating with real-world dangers or plot moments.
This can best be shown when Lee and Maren meet Jake (Michael Stuhlbarg) and Lance (David Gorden Green). Jake is an eater who found Maren and Lee using his scent, while Lance is an eater by choice and accompanies him. Stranger danger is widely known across the world, and given that Maren and Lee are both teenagers alone on their odyssey, they have a right to be afraid of the two. Along with Sully, their ambiance alone is unnerving, giving the audience a reason to feel as unsettled as Maren and Lee.
Planning a genre blend is just as difficult as execution, especially regarding horror and romance. Bones and All uses horror as an allegory for romance, with love being all-devouring (mirroring the eaters’ behavior). This is best demonstrated at the end of the film, with Lee’s final line after being mortally wounded by Sully. When Lee states that he wants Maren to eat him “bones and all,” it feels like an act of love, not brutality. When Maren devours Lee, it feels like witnessing an embrace, not a grotesque act of violence.
The Role Of Atmosphere — Cinematography, Sound, & Tone
The editing of Bones and All uniquely sets the tone for the entire film. The shots are stationary, even when the camera is in motion. There is a unity in every scene with a focus on not only the characters but also the overall setting. Cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan sets out to establish a sense of nostalgia and the ideals that come with it.
While Maren and Lee are inherently limited in their resources, the freedom of the open road is undeniable, with each of their stops being unique and amplifying whatever the current moment may be.
The sound design and score of the film share emotions that aren’t explicitly articulated. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross show their compositional range with the soundtrack of this film. Every time the soundtrack begins, combined with a sequence, it feels almost dreamlike.
The score, especially when Maren and Lee are making stops or travelling, amplifies their blossoming connection, putting the audience at ease. In scenes where they embrace, or simply just gaze at one another, the score is a perfect compliment, with light guitar over ambient sound, helping the audience better focus on the words being stated between the two.
On the opposite end, the score can amplify the unsettling, with out-of-tune guitars and metronomes ticking in the background that truly do feel disturbing. The sound design is no exception to this either; however, it feels more like a cherry on top as opposed to an independent aspect.
Hearing the cicadas hum in the American summer makes the locations feel familiar to many audiences, even those not from America. The rustling of leaves from the wind or the crickets chirping in the evening calms the audience, leading to a greater focus on events taking place.
Why The Film Resonates (And Confuses) Audiences
Bones and All is by no means a straightforward movie. The overall themes and characters of the film are hard to interpret. The film, for many, brings an inherent fascination with cannibalism as a metaphor for love and guilt.2
While this confuses audiences in a lot of ways, for some, it brings a fresh look at love. It’s completely understandable why some gain a visceral reaction when many sequences unfold, but the film tries to not only blend but simultaneously separate your psyche.
The metaphors are only obvious if you’re looking for them, leading to many having an “a-ha” moment when presented with the themes. It realistically is hard for many in the audience to sympathize with cannibals, but the reality is that these characters are alone in the film, driving others away out of fear or security.3
What further drives these mixed reactions is the way eaters interact with each other. Some (like Sully, for instance) have a strict moral code regarding eating another eater, while Lee’s ethics feel very fluid. Maren is a mirror for the audience, being rushed into this world that would otherwise be invisible, and having to find ways to navigate what’s right and what’s wrong.
A New Kind Of Americana Love Story
This film is nothing anyone has ever seen before. An amalgamation of genres and archetypes that are really hard to construct and execute well. It’s difficult to say whether another film like this will grace the screen, but due to its unorthodox nature, it’s definitely unlikely. Every aspect of this film alone shouldn’t feasibly work; Guadagnino sought to prove everyone wrong.
While the film won two awards at the Venice Film Festival, it underperformed at the box office and received mixed audience reactions. The film, as a piece, didn’t feel as if the box office was its goal. Bones and All truly feels like an artistic piece, and its goal is to share something unseen. Hopefully, someday again, Guadagnino will make another Americana masterpiece akin to Bones and All.
Footnotes
- Bergman, Megan Mayhew. “What Currently Brings Me Joy: Roadside Americana.” The Guardian, March 21, 2023.
↩︎ - Bradshaw, Peter. “Bones and All Review – Cannibal Romance Is a Heartbreaking Banquet of Brilliance.” The Guardian, September 2, 2022.
↩︎ - Malik, Maariyah. “Bones and All: Cannibalism as Alienation – Brainscramble Magazine.” BrainScramble Magazine – the world through our eyes, August 5, 2023.
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