It would be impossible to have an open mind towards Bone Lake. Even the characters don’t try to hide the stench around that title. But still, director Mercedes Bryce Morgan (A Spoonful of Sugar) and writer Joshua Friedlander are also not timid to the sordid potential of their assistance; there is something sexual and treacherous to be enjoyed here as two couples meet for the first time in this four handed erotic thriller.
The global audience has labelled Bone Lake a “lurid Lifetime movie” so that’s gripping. Of course, and in all honesty, this is far more engaging and better executed modern exploitation. First off: there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that the setup is anything but innocent. Two couples just happen to book the same holiday house at the same time. Understandably the situation should seem fishy to anyone who has an iota of experience with these kinds of thrillers. Still, playing through them is never difficult since from the very beginning Bone Lake knows perfectly well that most of its viewers will have no trust. And it doesn’t ruin the fun to be aware that something nasty will happen next.
In most aspects, this is a single set film. As soon as Marco Pigossi and Maddie Hasson arrive at their characters’ charming getaway only to have them opt to share the space with the handsome strangers portrayed by Alex Roe and Andra Nechita, it all gets limited to the interesting yet creepy on all accounts house. Yes, this feels like the cross of ‘I know where this is going’ but thankfully the story shifts gears quite a bit (and in a positive manner). Bone Lake succumbs to expectations without being overly bland or god forbid, boring.
The cast is what propels this film forward. Although the characters fit easily into their clichéd roles the aspiring novelist, the jealous partner, or the seductress there is a degree of complexity to their personalities that renders them much more interesting. Before Will and Cin arrive, Diego and Sage are already in a precariously dysfunctional relationship, making it understandable that they ignore the other couple the picture is screaming darkness. There is quite a bit of shock but there is also some welcome light comedy when it is obvious what the so called trusted friends are up to. For fans of the so called “active venture” who would not tolerate such apathy from the lost kin, the narrative twists into a fast unsolvable mess long before the “move” phase begins.
As for Will and Cin, Will’s and Cins’ personas are unfortunately more of a spectacle than anything else for the holiday characters they are meant to tell a story. The film’s plot focuses more on their deeds than on the reasons behind their actions. Such attempts to somehow expose and study the motivation would seem marginal and patently impotent and unappetizing in comparison to the rife and general seduction. In Bone Lake, Woe and Nechita recreate the amusingly nasty atmosphere of the picture, and without them, Bone Lake would be impossible to survive.
The following sentences and statements do not tell a suspenseful story. If that’s the objective, one should search for something more creative and less predictable. On the contrary however, Bone Lake knows what its type of movie is, and when this self understanding comes to pass, that is when the real excitement starts.
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