I didn’t think Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” was fully successful in its attempt to mix the road movie genre with horror and romance, but the best thing I can say is that it was a fairly interesting concept. It never really felt dull or uninspired.
Variety has decided to name “Bones and All” as the third worst movie of 2022. More specifically, the always-eclectic Owen Gleiberman:
What if they made a cannibal youthquake fantasy and nobody cared? This YA-road-movie-meets-fashion-show, starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell as flesh-eaters who aren’t zombies (seriously, they’re nice! and sexy! and dull!), came out of the Venice Film Festival like a house of “Twilight” hype on fire. It landed with a thud, because audiences discovered that for two hours and 10 minutes almost nothing actually happens. We have more than enough time to gawk at the oversize holes in Chalamet’s jeans, which reveal a set of bones nearly as bare as the script.
“Bones and All” seems to have quickly evaporated from the cinematic zeitgeist. Not too many people are talking about it anymore. It was just too strange for the masses and film critics seemed to be split on it.
Guadagnino started off his career with three summer romances set in Italy: “I Am Love,” “A Bigger Splash,” “Call Me By Your Name.” His last film two films, “Suspiria,” and “Bones and All,” have steered far away from this earlier style. It also doesn’t look as though he will be going back to his roots anytime soon either, at least judging by the upcoming projects he has lined up next year.