Bones and All

Do you think I’m a bad person?… All I think is that I love you. This gonna be a long ass review so thank you if you actually read it. My complete love and admiration for this movie can be pinned down to many different reasons, the unnerving score, strongly written characters, beautiful visuals and a script that has so many layers worth interpreting. The romance in the film and bond between Maren and Lee is so beautiful to me. Regardless of their cannibalism. They have such a raw connection with one another. The scene of them on the field is so gorgeous in so many aspects. God I can hear the guitar strings plucking in the back of my head over and over the score is so so catchy but matches the vibe of the film so well and makes so many scenes effective. It’s obvious the cannibalism in the film is a huge metaphor but there’s so many ways you can look at it and the script does a fantastic job and giving you that freedom. It can be seen as the idea of consuming your own grief/trauma. How when confronted with it you can’t help but consume it and let it fill you. Maren suffers with the hereditary trauma from her mum, she was born to live the way she is and she isn’t accepted by her father because of who she is. Then there’s the queer aspect of the film which is showcased heavily. Maren at the start of the movie biting the girls finger is done in such a way it’s hard not to see it as her acting on her feelings towards the same gender. Making her feel like an outcast or “eater”. Lee is similar. He has a tattoo which says Adam, Eve and Steve clearly suggesting he’s bisexual. He is critiqued by his own sister for dressing in a “gay” way which makes him feel ashamed which again makes him an outcast or “eater”. He also has the sexual interaction with the other male he meets at the fair that he seeks to consume which I take almost as him seeing himself and consuming his grief of being outcasted for his lust towards men. The films leaves so much room for thought. Sully is a character who’s become completely deranged through being outcasted and lonely. He craves companionship and believes everyone should be the same who are in his shoes (an eater). He’s adamant that him and Maren must stick together because he can’t accept her feeling companionship elsewhere as he never has or could. Leading him to try and control and keep her to himself. The whole “Bones and All” campfire scene is so damn unnerving as well. Like the fact someone is stating they eat people out of merely enjoying it rather than needing to. Jake mentions how he eats bones and all and how there’s before you’ve eaten bones and after when it comes to being an eater. Which I think is the idea of completely consuming your grief to the point of insanity and losing your grip on morality. There’s definitely more too it. But it’s such a good scene I’ll never understand the people who think it’s an Unnecessary scene. I think it’s showing Maren but mostly Lee what he could become if he goes on the wrong path or not finding Maren. The ending is beautifully heartbreaking. That last shot as well oh my days. Stunning. I simply adore this movie. I could talk about for hours. It’s my favourite ever!