walks up slowly and takes a chunk out of your back. Regardless of Guadagnino’s romantic tendencies and his affinity for idyll, its opening sequence makes clear:his is a horror movie. Its protagonist, 18-year-old Maren , is on a journey to find the mother who seemingly abandoned her, but she’s also seeking to find herself. Maren, see, has a...condition that prompts her to start chomping on people, seemingly uncontrollably.
Guadagnino’s refusal to confirm or deny whether Sully poses a true threat to Maren maintains an uncomfortable tension well into the movie’s runtime.But Sully’s hardly the only oddball here. Even just listening to the cannibals spell out their experience tips things toward ridiculousness, like when Maren and Sully casually discuss the taste of human flesh. According to Maren, it’s “metallic...like mud. Something tangy.” “But not like rotten,” adds Sully. “No, but close.