Surprisingly romantic young “cannibals in love” movie from Luca Guadagnini (Call Me by Your Name). Based on a novel by Camille DeAngelis, it stars the charismatic Taylor Russell as Maren, whose father has deserted her because of her “affliction” of cannibalism, which she had been able to keep under control until recently.
She is heading along the highways by bus and during a stopover she meets a creepy, older man- Sully (Mark Rylance), who instructs her that people of “their” kind can smell each other out. She gets majorly weirded out by him and hops another bus out of town. (Rylance hilariously chews the scenery and when he utters “Nothing dully with Sully,” you just die).
Down the road, she sniffs out another of her kind- Lee (Timothee Chalamet) and they tentatively bond and head down the road in a stolen truck together. Chalamet is perfect young wet dream material- scruffy, with hennaed hair and incredibly ripped jeans, he the kind of damaged soul that is irresistible and he accompanies Maren on her mission to reconnect with the mother she never knew.
This kind of loony romanticism mixed with blood is usually found in vampire films like Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark or Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive. But there is real tenderness and crackpot poetry to these bloodthirsty lovers’ journey. Never has the phrase “eat me” seemed more like a kiss.
This is the perfect post for Thanksgiving Day.