‘Bones and All’ is Exquisitely Disturbing & Painfully Sweet

Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation maps out a surreal, menacing love story that’s difficult to look away from.

Nikki Davis
5 min readNov 29, 2022
(via MGM/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Sometimes, I’ll come out of a horror movie and tell my friends, “Fair warning, this one’s not for the faint of heart.” I’m mostly talking about gore; I know a lot of people are tired of blood and guts as the main event — Saw-style, put on a platter and shoved under their nose like a side-show.

Bones and All, though, does something that’s far more affecting and upsetting: it’s a horror film about a romance for which gore is an inescapable byproduct for our two leads. As is often the case with “alternative” lifestyles, it’s the thing that brings them together — and makes it impossible for them to stay that way.

Maren (Taylor Russell) has been an “eater” since she was a child but can’t remember much of it. Her father — stretched to his limits of understanding— eventually gives up years of covering up her crimes and abandons his 18-year-old, leaving her with a…

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Nikki Davis

Pop culture fiend and perpetual word nerd. Self-proclaimed expert playlist maker. Writing about film, TV, music, productivity, and self-care. 🤓🎞️🏳️‍🌈