The best horror movies tend to focus on teenage protagonists. The very age when we all didn’t have a clue what we didn’t know (we thought we knew everything). We spend so much time with these young people, actively rooting for some of them to survive (and maybe actively rooting for others to not be as lucky). The stories act as coming of age stories. A warning that you might be transitioning from your childhood into adulthood.
The world is a scary place already, so to have a slasher/ghost/demon/etc. trying to kill you…
Bones and All takes this conceit and asks the question from a completely different angle. It is from the Monster’s point of view. Whether it is our lead, Maren, who is trying to figure out who or what she actually is. Or whether it is Lee, who knows who he is, but throuh Maren’s eyes he now sees himself in a different light. Or whether it is some of the other Eaters they encounter. Those who might embrace their darker natures. Is being true to yourself mean that you are evil?
Probably when we’re talking about eating people.
But really, we all have some form of darkness within us. Obviously, for most it isn’t horror movie level. I think of it as that Devil on our shoulder who tries to influence our basest natures. You know where you should cuss someone out, but end up listening to the Angel instead. Still, that darkness is there. For some it may be a constant struggle against some form of addiction in all of its various forms.
The disease is there. The question is what are we. Who are we?
It feels like Bones and All is trying to present and answer these questions as best it can. The journey Maren goes on to figure out where she comes from, shows her a world she never even thought existed. And where many horror movies would jump to the evil immediately, this movie takes its time. A very slow burn as she goes through the full spectrum of emotions. It never rushes her (or the audience for that matter). It doesn’t shy away from the horrific actions she is forced to take, but for many of the other characters – this is simply their lives. They have some control, but in the end, they can’t fight their nature.
But she says something within the movie that sums up her world view – “I would have done the same… in my own way.”
She believes that she doesn’t always have to be the monster. That much like the vampire movies where they drink rats or whatever, she can maybe find a way to live a “normal” life. The good side of her could possibly win.
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John McGuire is the writer of the sci-fi novel: The Echo Effect.
He is also the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!
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His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Tales from Vigilante City, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.
He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com
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