Abstract thoughts such as love and beauty have no way of explaining themselves but from an individual’s plethora of emotions. The sounds of flesh being ravenously devoured doesn’t exactly invoke a person’s psyche to think of love at first glance, but this is what the Italian filmmaker, Luca Guadagnino excels at. To depict visceral acts of cannibalism and link it to love. The film is supposedly a romance/horror, but there’s no scene throughout the runtime where you would cover your eyes or get jump scared. Oh wait, there is.

The film revolves around the protagonist Maren Yearly, played by Taylor Russel, and how she tries to find solace in who she is. Her lust for flesh, blood and bones have driven the ones she loved the most, away from her. She goes on a little journey to find her long lost mother and on the way she encounters a few fellow “eaters”. Her interactions with them shape her to become something more meaningful than she thinks she is.

The mixture of genres like horror and romance seems like a rather unorthodox mix, but Luca Guadagnino accomplishes this with plenty of swooning romantic moments (ones that are not cheesy in the slightest bit) and moments that are straight up ghastly.

The script is very well written, writer David Kajganich (adapting a book from author Camille DeAngelis) writes from the perspectives of two cannibals, and vividly brings to life a great tale that mainly emphasises self-discovery and accepting your uniqueness regardless of what society thinks of you.

Arseni Khachaturan, the cinematographer, does an incredible job with the aesthetically pleasing visuals of landscapes under purple skies. The American heartland in all its unspoiled, colossal, and sparsely inhabited beauty. It oozes Terrence Malick through and through.

The stellar performances from Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell and Mark Rylance really brings the entire film together. This could be viewed as Timothée’s best performance as of yet but I still feel he did a much better job in ‘Beautiful Boy’. Other great performances here include the likes of Michael Stuhlbarg’s staggering one scene, Chloe Sevigny, André Holland, and Jessica Harper.

There are no negatives about this film per se, but there’s a few places where it could have been better. The editing and pacing at a few places felt a little clunky and unnecessary but overall there’s not much to comment about.

To end it all off, if you are a fan of Guadagnino’s work and a Timothée stan, you’ve got a fun watch this weekend. Alright I’m playing, this film should be watched notwithstanding the fact whether you’re familiar with Guadagnino’s work or not. It’s got everything that a compelling story needs. It’s a completely original, engaging, superbly made, and brilliantly performed movie that succeeds on every level.