Review: Mark Rylance Delivers A Virtuoso Performance In ‘Bones And All’

Heartthrob Timothee Chalamet, with his knack for sharp cheekbones, and Taylor Russell, a gorgeous actress-to-be, play two gorgeous young cannibals in Bones and All, now in theaters.

Charming? weird. But don't be discouraged. For as long as vampires have been in the "Twilight" franchise, these carnivores are surrogates for young misfits (think "Bonnie and Clyde") trying to find a home in a world of beauty and horror.

Based on Camille DeAngelis' teen bestseller, the film, set in Central America in 1988, tells the story of a first love torn apart by an addiction stronger than drugs.

Luca Guadagnino, who led Chalamet to an Oscar nomination in Call Me By Your Name, is a seductive horror, alternately raw and pitiful. This is the first film by the Italian artist shot in America. It is the romantic sweetness of the two protagonists, who even play lovers in love with a murderous passion, which accompanies you through your devilish odyssey.

Appearing as a featured talent in Waves and Netflix's new version of Lost in Space, Russell impresses as Maren, a shy teenager living with her nomadic father (Andre Holland), who is curious because her bedroom is locked by the night. There are reasons for this, all bloody.

That doesn't stop Meren from opening a window and sneaking into a sleepover, where she nibbles on a new boyfriend's well-groomed finger. You can blame him when Meren doesn't meet dad the first time, they just fly away.

Until Daddy drops by and Maren leaves a recorded message on her 18th birthday, basically saying she did what she could. Goodbye Maren's journey begins with her institutionalized mother (Chloë Sevigny), from whom she has inherited her incredible appetite.

At an abandoned bus stop, Maren is chased by Sully (Mark Rylance), a stranger who dresses as a crazy country singer and sees her as a black dot. Rylance, Oscar winner for Bridges of Spies, offers a virtuous portrait of this old hunter who dies alone. It is perverse perfection.

Rylance is soon joined by Chalamet, whose character Lee meets Maren during a store robbery. Later, while singing "Lick It Up" by KISS, she leaves. It's a match made in cannibal heaven. Meren almost sees that Lee only eats bad guys, but is looking for ways to control and maybe break his habit.

Like the bombshell Guadagnino dropped without warning, this movie deserves to be spoiler-free. All the actors are brilliant, including Michael Stohlberg as another cannibal and David Gordon Green, who directed the new 'Halloween' trilogy as the cannibals.

Cheers to the lugubrious score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and the cinematography by cinematographer Arseniy Khachaturan, even if they fail to make up for David Kazganich's disturbingly incomplete script.

Big plus, you can't take your eyes off Russell and Chalamet. They capture the emotional center of this exotic love road movie like true stars. Their angelic faces hide an inner ruin that feels painful and sad as the terror of loneliness approaches.