BONE LAKE

Bone Lake serves up a mean, brutally violent, bloody and twisted horror thriller that uses its sexually pent up energy to play psychological games on both the audience and characters, that despite its routine reveal, never for a second fails to deliver an entertaining ride thanks to the absurd events depicted on screen and the good casting of Maddie Hasson, Marco Pigossi, Alex Roe and Andra Nechit.

From what was teased in the film’s marketing, Bone Lake is not quite the horror film that audiences are expecting, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. What was teased as a sexually explicit, gory and violent horror movie from the trailer and those posters teasing steamy moments with their racy taglines, is actually a more twisted, erotic psychological thriller that never fails to entertain. Yes, it’s still your standard B grade horror film with a predictable twist, but writer Joshua Friedlander keeps the sexual tension high in this sensual game of cat and mouse, never playing it safe with its many messy moments, before climaxing in one bloody showdown that is certain to delight horror fans who are able to surrender themselves to the film.

Within the first five minutes of the film, viewers have a good idea where the story of Bone Lake is going, knowing that one of the two couples at this rental home is hiding a darker intention, and Friedlander leans into that. In the film’s opening moments, he creates a friendly yet uncomfortable dynamic between Sage & Diego and Will & Cin, derived from the constant spying, overly personal exchanges, sharing of information that you probably shouldn’t share with a complete stranger, and good old peer pressure. As the weekend progresses, it escalates to unsolicited sexual encounters, extreme gaslighting and full on manipulation, as it becomes a sinister thriller as the story cooks with its alarming and unnerving situations the two couples find themselves in. Then the reveal drops that the audience was waiting for, which goes much harder than expected and in a direction you won’t see coming (which will either make or break the film for viewers), unleashing an unhinged, violent and incredibly gory final act that horror fans will eat up. It works to the film’s benefit that it is slightly over ninety minutes in length, ensuring that the screenplay never lingers too long at any moment and doesn’t make the viewer wait too long for the bloody payoff.

Supporting the story are the performances of Maddie Hasson, Marco Pigossi, Alex Roe and Andra Nechita who embrace the wild, sexually charged, and absurdity of the screenplay with a seriousness, that in the hands of the wrong cast could have become a campy mess, bearing it all psychologically and physically (down to their birthday suits) when required. Hasson and Pigossi have a tenderness to them as Sage and Diego, creating the lovable ordinary couple going through a rough patch that neither of them is willing to admit to the other, looking for a romantic weekend away to reinvigorate their relationship. Pigossi’s warmth lights up the screen with his doting boyfriend routine, madly in love with Sage, while Hasson wears Sage’s frustration with a grace that helps to create this young woman looking for something more from her partner and relationship. Roe and Nechita lay in heavily to the larger than life persona of Will and Cin, creating that couple that is too glamorous, attractive and open to be true, only fuelling the dark suspicions surrounding their characters that the audience has, while playing the maddening that their characters start to pull on Sage and Diego with such a sincerity that it will have the audience question which couple is crazy. As an ensemble, as apart from the opening scene it is only the four of them for the entire film, Hasson, Pigossi, Roe and Nechita create a solid chemistry on screen that carries the film from start to finish, ensuring that Friedlander never misses a beat.

While Bone Lake needs no help in creating insanity on screen, the film’s technical aspects only bolster the madness of the film’s story. The cinematography plays with colour and lighting, using lots of shadows and vibrant neon colours (largely greens and reds) to amplify the unsettling nature of this weekend, suggesting something more sinister beneath the surface of this gorgeous lakefront house that the two couples find themselves renting for the weekend. Nick Matthews’ work behind the camera also uses some wild upside down and spiralling shots which, while stunning to look at, has the inverted imagery suggest something is not right at Bone Lake. Anjoum Agrama’s editing, while frantic at times, creates a visual chaos that acts as a premonition as to what is coming for the characters in this film. It also highlights some of the nastier moments, playing into the film’s marketing campaign of the promise the wild places this story will go. And then there is the prosthetic and makeup work and practical effects to create the violence on screen and all of the squirm worthy moments, all of which is outstanding and never skimps on the copious amounts of fake blood used to splatter the characters in the final act. This may be a smaller, independent horror feature, but it looks absolutely great and shows up many of Hollywood’s big blockbusters for being realistic looking and not over relying on notable CGI.

Joining the list of horror films alongside Barbarian that pose the question, what could go wrong sharing a rental home with a complete stranger, Bone Lake delivers a twisted weekend getaway. Never for a second questioning the intelligence of the audience and instead doubling down on the insanity building towards the twist that they know is coming, writer Joshua Friedlander and director Mercedes Bryce Morgan keep the intensity building before boiling over into the bloody mayhem that audiences are waiting for. With commendable performances from Maddie Hasson, Marco Pigossi, Alex Roe and Andra Nechita who revel in the ever mounting insanity of the screenplay and create a dynamic on screen chemistry, Bone Lake doubles down on the gaslighting, sexually charged tension and gore to deliver a shocking, deranged and twistedly entertaining erotic horror thriller that audiences won’t be able to unsee.