Bone Lake review
Couples vacation/therapy.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Bone Lake
Directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan
Written by Joshua Friedlander, Elyse Hollander and Adele Lim
Starring Alex Roe, Maddie Hasson, Marco Pigossi, Andra Nechita, Clayton Spencer and Elaine Reis
Bone Lake Review
I don’t know if it’s a rule that any horror movie located at an Airbnb has to begin with a mistaken double booking…but it sure feels that way. Bone Lake doesn’t waste much time getting to the now expected story beat. We spend a little time with lead couple Diego (Marco Pigossi) and Sage (Maddie Hasson) before the second couple arrives. Long enough to understand where they are in their relationship. When the outgoing and too friendly couple Will (Alex Roe) and Cin (Andra Nechita) enter the picture…we aren’t quite sure which direction Bone Lake is going to head in.
The script gives a nod to that mystery. The couples have booked a stay at a gorgeous estate on a lake…known as Bone Lake. The men admit they thought it was called that because of all the sex that must happen in this location. The truth involves the legend of a killer who dumped his victims into the water. Those are the two ways Bone Lake is most likely to head. It teases both out in multiple ways before revealing what it really has up its sleeve.
Will and Cin are the polar opposites of Diego and Sage. They’re free-spirited and uninhibited. Diego and Sage have reached the stage of their relationship where they are comfortable…and keep things that make them feel uncomfortable to themselves. This mainly refers to how Sage bottles her emotions over her partner’s career choice and how closed off he is in the bedroom. She’s making a lot of sacrifices. A reveal midway through the movie partially explains why she would be willing to do that.
After deciding to spend the weekend together, the two couples get off to a strong start. They get along…and, although Sage admits the vibes feel a bit off, try to enjoy their time together. This includes breaking into some locked rooms in the estate to see what the owners are hiding. These include a sex dungeon and what appears to be the site of a ritual. They don’t get to the third locked door until later in the story. It contains answers that would have been helpful for them to have found earlier.
So, is Bone Lake a movie about murder or sex? The answer is yes. Although it’s surprisingly reserved in the nudity department…it does involve a lot of attempted seduction from one couple towards the other. Things also get suitably bloody in the climax of the film…though we’ll leave the who/how/why out of this non-spoiler review.
Getting to that bloody climax is the best part of Bone Lake. Growing suspicions, obvious gaslighting, a growing sense of entrapment. The actors are clearly having a good time with their roles. Everyone grows slightly more unhinged in different ways. Bone Lake is one of the rare movies whose slow burn stands above the bloody explosion it’s building towards. Not that there isn’t fun to be had in that climax. In fact, some of the best moments in the movie are found there. It just goes on a bit too long. Every scene in the resolution of Bone Lake feels a little too drawn out to be completely effective. It can’t quite gain the momentum it’s looking for…but it’s fun anyway. Funny too…increasingly so as the weekend turns to a fight for survival.
Bone Lake is an interesting movie to recommend. I think there’s enough fun here for it to make a solid watch…but there are moments where I think it could lose people. If you aren’t on board with some purposely frustrating story turns…you might lose interest. Those potential frustrations do eventually pay off. The result is a fun watch that teeters between pretty good and very good. It contains one of the strongest final images of the year…a perfect ending to a movie that sometimes feels like it’s unsure where it’s heading. It isn’t. Bone Lake requires a bit of trust to fully engage with. Just like the relationship that it puts under fire. A couples’ vacation that turns into a very unwanted couples therapy session. Complete with an axe and a chainsaw.
Scare Value
Bone Lake doesn’t quite nail the pacing of its story…but the uneven parts are also some of the most entertaining. The slow burn actually works better than the bloody climax…which is a rarity for this kind of film. The actors are having a blast which helps a lot. Some effective comedic moments elevate a story that takes a minute to find its way and eventually runs out of ideas. There’s plenty of fun to be had in between, however.
3/5
Bone Lake Link
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