Movies such as this are ones that can be placed under the Umbrella term "divisive". And for good reason; if you haven't seen the movie and know going in asides from one incredibly brutal scene at the beginning that's already in the trailers, telling anyone the plot of the film would find it hard to listen in.
So you have a choice: do you dismiss the movie for the subject and the fact we're being presented with a challenging thing, or do you accept or try to accept the movie's quality of the direction, cinematography and performance as things to praise? And there is a lot to praise.
The plot of the movie follows a young girl called Maren Yearly played by Taylor Russell. After being invited to a sleepover and attacking one of the girls there, her and her father Leonard played briefly by Andre Holland run. After her 18th birthday, Leonard abandons Maren as he can no longer control her impulses, leaving her to make her own way in the world; she decides to track down her mother, Janelle, and on the way encounters other "eaters", the creepy Sully played by Mark Rylance, and the young charismatic Lee played by Timothee Chalamet. The latter of these she starts a sweet but co-dependent romance with, and the former will stalk her throughout the story up to the violent end.
First things first, yes the movie refers to cannibals such as Maren, Lee and Sully as "eaters". It does keep the movie in a very weird spot where it's trying to be kind of young adult in the handling of the subject, in a way to stop it boiling over too far. In many ways it helps, but it does make Maren a little bit too innocent. In many ways, Maren is a likeable character who displays a moral code; for example, she was disgusted with bit character Jake when he reveals that he eats people because he likes it, and was distraught when Lee killed and ate a man with a family. In the film you see her trying to be a normal person who just happens to have this insane compulsion, and Russell plays it well.
Timothee Chalamet is the it boy right now for movies and if you're looking for a young, attractive man who can pull off being still very dangerous, Chamalet is the man. Lee really does pull off this part well as he makes this part work and make the romance grow well. His chemistry with Russell is awesome and even if the romance between two cannibals is bad news for society and is, like I said, very co-dependent, they both make it work.
Other actors like Andre Holland and Michael Stuhlburg, playing the aforementioned Jake, make their parts memorable. Chloe Sevigney played Janelle, Maren's mother who is also an eater and the cause of her addiction. Sevigney, who is non verbal in the film and lacking hands, also makes her part viseral and violent, as well as tragic for the self-committed fate of her.
However, the best supporting performance of the film BY FAR is Mark Rylance playing the very predatory eater Sully. Rylance, who traditionally plays very warm, loving and noble characters, plays a character who is very unnerving but also not flat. This is a part that could've been played very joyless and bland, but Rylance gives Sully a lot of tics and mannerisms that make him feel genuine and real. And it's important that's the case, so when he tells Maren "never eat an eater" we believe him, and when he's hurt by Maren running away from him, we also believe it. The character is dangerous as we see him consuming on the body of a woman he was waiting to die naturally, and he also kills a character that was close to Maren and Lee albeit off screen, emphasising his impact on the story.
Director Luca Guadagnino shoots the movie with the same honesty and focus as with Call Me By Your Name, and thesoundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is awesome especially the unnerving Campfire track. Also, the use of Cannibalism as a allegory for not just romance within the film but also poverty was very interesting, and the backdrop of 1980's America emphasises this. Overall, I do have to say the movie is almost perfect. There are, however, two massive issues:
The ending doesn't break the film, but it does hold it back. I did enjoy it though; due to the fusion of genres, there'll be something to enjoy whether its the romance or the horror or the great visuals. Give it a try, although it isn't an easy sit at all.
So you have a choice: do you dismiss the movie for the subject and the fact we're being presented with a challenging thing, or do you accept or try to accept the movie's quality of the direction, cinematography and performance as things to praise? And there is a lot to praise.
The plot of the movie follows a young girl called Maren Yearly played by Taylor Russell. After being invited to a sleepover and attacking one of the girls there, her and her father Leonard played briefly by Andre Holland run. After her 18th birthday, Leonard abandons Maren as he can no longer control her impulses, leaving her to make her own way in the world; she decides to track down her mother, Janelle, and on the way encounters other "eaters", the creepy Sully played by Mark Rylance, and the young charismatic Lee played by Timothee Chalamet. The latter of these she starts a sweet but co-dependent romance with, and the former will stalk her throughout the story up to the violent end.
First things first, yes the movie refers to cannibals such as Maren, Lee and Sully as "eaters". It does keep the movie in a very weird spot where it's trying to be kind of young adult in the handling of the subject, in a way to stop it boiling over too far. In many ways it helps, but it does make Maren a little bit too innocent. In many ways, Maren is a likeable character who displays a moral code; for example, she was disgusted with bit character Jake when he reveals that he eats people because he likes it, and was distraught when Lee killed and ate a man with a family. In the film you see her trying to be a normal person who just happens to have this insane compulsion, and Russell plays it well.
Timothee Chalamet is the it boy right now for movies and if you're looking for a young, attractive man who can pull off being still very dangerous, Chamalet is the man. Lee really does pull off this part well as he makes this part work and make the romance grow well. His chemistry with Russell is awesome and even if the romance between two cannibals is bad news for society and is, like I said, very co-dependent, they both make it work.
Other actors like Andre Holland and Michael Stuhlburg, playing the aforementioned Jake, make their parts memorable. Chloe Sevigney played Janelle, Maren's mother who is also an eater and the cause of her addiction. Sevigney, who is non verbal in the film and lacking hands, also makes her part viseral and violent, as well as tragic for the self-committed fate of her.
However, the best supporting performance of the film BY FAR is Mark Rylance playing the very predatory eater Sully. Rylance, who traditionally plays very warm, loving and noble characters, plays a character who is very unnerving but also not flat. This is a part that could've been played very joyless and bland, but Rylance gives Sully a lot of tics and mannerisms that make him feel genuine and real. And it's important that's the case, so when he tells Maren "never eat an eater" we believe him, and when he's hurt by Maren running away from him, we also believe it. The character is dangerous as we see him consuming on the body of a woman he was waiting to die naturally, and he also kills a character that was close to Maren and Lee albeit off screen, emphasising his impact on the story.
Director Luca Guadagnino shoots the movie with the same honesty and focus as with Call Me By Your Name, and thesoundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is awesome especially the unnerving Campfire track. Also, the use of Cannibalism as a allegory for not just romance within the film but also poverty was very interesting, and the backdrop of 1980's America emphasises this. Overall, I do have to say the movie is almost perfect. There are, however, two massive issues:
- Firstly, there is an emptiness to some of the scenes. For example, the scene with Jake, asides from giving the idea of "Bones and All" to consume a person entirely, doesn't go anywhere beyond and is never referenced again. Also, there seems to be a lot of eaters in this world but none of them are ever connected which seems strange, even moreso that civilians aren't more aware of this. The meeting with Janelle also isn't really looked into again, and Leonard is never shown outside of memories.
- The ending. Now, the ending scene, a lot happens, as Sully finds and corners Maren in her flat and pins her to the bed in a scene where Rylance makes a serious case for an Oscar nomination (which I hope he gets). Then Lee comes home and a fight ensues where Sully is killed, but he fatally stabs Lee in the lung. Whilst dying, and knowing what going to the hospital means, Lee asks Maren to eat him "bones and all". Which she does. But then the movie stops. First of all, why aren't we shown the affect this has on Maren? And also, one of the big arcs, that is still left unresolved, is what kind of eater Maren turns herself into. We're given examples all through the film of the different codes held by Sully, Lee, Jake and Janelle, but when it comes time to let Maren decide she's not shown to make it. And it makes the ending feel incomplete and inconclusive. The book the movie is based off has no sequels, and actually does give an answer to this question which no one liked as it outright states Maren becomes a predator like Sully. Yes that might've been heartbreaking, but it's better than the nothing we got. It's not the worst ending to a movie this year - Don't Worry Darling firmly holds that - but it's still worth mentioning for a film this well made and acted.
The ending doesn't break the film, but it does hold it back. I did enjoy it though; due to the fusion of genres, there'll be something to enjoy whether its the romance or the horror or the great visuals. Give it a try, although it isn't an easy sit at all.