Bones and All
Cert 18 | ★★★★★

Jewish Franco-American actor and current Hollywood heartthrob Timothée Chalamet proves once again that he truly is the real deal as he stars in Italian director Luca Guadagnino’s latest film, Bones and All.

Guadonigno gave Chalamet his big break in 2017 when he cast him as Elio, a bright and talented gay teen, in his coming of age feature Call Me By Your Name, which also starred Armie Hammer.

In 2019, it was announced that Hammer and Chalamet would be reprising their roles in the follow-up but after a series of allegations were made against Hammer, that project has now been left hanging in the air.

Written by David Kajganich, Bones and All is based on the 2015 novel of the same name by American author Camille DeAngelis.

Mark Rylance

It stars Taylor Russell as Maren, a young woman with cannibalistic tendencies who learns how to survive on the margins of society. Chalamet plays Lee, a handsome drifter who finds in Maren the soulmate he has been longing for all his life.

As Lee and Maren form a profound bond travelling across rural America on the hunt for excitement and their next victim, they come across all manner of unscrupulous and unsavoury characters.

But can their love last as long as their insatiable hunger for human flesh, or is their adventure set to end in tears?

This is Guadagnino’s best film since Call Me By Your Name and the one that will cement Chalamet’s satus as one of the most gifted, astute and naturalistic actors of his generation.

He and Russell give two near- perfect performances as two star-crossed lovers with a destructive instinct in common.

Elsewhere, Mark Rylance is typically brilliant as Sully, the creepy loner who takes a shine to Maren, while Michael Stuhlbarg is once again excellent as fellow cannibal drifter Jake.

Guadagnino delivers a mature and beautifully shot film and a gorgeously understated character study of two people attempting to stay true to themselves in a world that would reject them if it only knew their true nature.

Despite the subject matter, this is a story with heart that rings true.