Guadagnino’s latest film makes for a fascinating counterpoint to his previous collaboration with Chalamet, 2017’s “Call Me By Your Name.” Unlike that film’s clandestine gay courtship, which occurs under the auspices of an Italian estate populated by at least nominally tolerant intellectuals, “Bones and All” explores unexpected desire from the shadows of Reaganite wreckage in middle America. After a titillated Maren devours a female friend’s finger at a sleepover, her single father (André Holland) forces her to uproot her life and hit the road. It’s amidst the detritus of America’s forgotten spaces that she begins to encounter others who share her bloodlust.
Eighteen-year-old Maren’s senses are still unformed, but she quickly discovers how other cannibals can simply smell each other out. The radar tingles first for Sully (Mark Rylance), a crafty cannibal who’s learned to spot easy marks among the aged and infirm. But her heart beats most for Lee, a lithe young’un who trades on his wiles to make meals of his marks. Lee serves as a siren call for insecure people, particularly men, who only require the slightest nudge to indulge their basest instincts of anger or desire.
While Maren becomes just the latest person enmeshed in Lee’s seductive solicitousness, she manages to slowly chip away at his protective defenses to see inside. The two kindred spirits hit the road together across a dilapidated landscape in search of their next fleshy feast. These two outlaws with a sexual tension bordering on dysfunction may recall “Bonnie & Clyde,” but don’t expect the thrill of criminality and carnality to go hand-in-hand.
The pair unavoidably gravitates back toward the comfort of their family. The binding force between Maren and Lee is not just love or lust; it’s their search for validation and acceptance from their own blood relatives. The free-wheeling appeal of the road pales in comparison to their need for a home with another person who can see them for who and what they are – and still accept them anyway. It’s a struggle that ought to resonate with viewers of all dietary preferences.
