[Film Review] Bone Lake (2025)

There is something paradoxical about the idea of a weekend getaway, searching for comfort by taking ourselves out of our comfort zones. Perhaps the change of scenery, a disruption in routine, an escape from the pressures of our daily lives, will reveal to us a path towards solitude. Sage and Diego certainly hope their retreat to a secluded estate on the shores of a tranquil lake will offer respite from the strains on their relationship in Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s Bone Lake. 

Having met in college, the two are both writers–Diego (Marco Pigossi) is a community college teacher, recently unemployed in favor of a full time effort towards writing a novel, while Sage (Maddie Hasson) is a journalist-turned-editor, tasked with financially supporting the pair. Aside from these material pressures, the depth of the disconnect between them is immediately clear. Every word, every smile, and even every orgasm is a half-truth on Sage’s part. Things only get more dicey when the film turns into every AirBnb user’s worst nightmare–another couple arrive, claiming to also have the estate reserved for the weekend. The two couples decide to coexist but the presence of Will (Alex Roe) and Cin (Andra Nechita), who are a younger, hotter, and more outwardly affectionate couple, challenges the trust and love that Sage and Diego have for one another.

As a fan of Morgan’s previous film Spoonful of Sugar (2022), Bone Lake was one of my most anticipated films of Fantastic Fest 2024. She again has delivered a fun little thriller full of headgames and psychosexual mania. With rental rampages emerging as their own sub-category in the canon of vacation-gone-wrong horror flicks, it is easy to clue into the fact that this mystery couple is up to no good. But as Will and Cin tease out the skeletons in Sage and Diego’s closets, our main duo are also looking to uncover what skeletons the house itself might be hiding. Behind each door is a new twist and each act of the film supplies its own reveal. 

On the heels of director Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil (2022), Bone Lake offers its own frustrating spiral into how willing people are to let their boundaries be violated for the sake of keeping the peace and saving face. This rather underexplored state of mild discomfort is a well of comedic potential that Morgan is smart to tap into. The result is a modestly horny yet surprisingly bloody popcorn flick with a twisted perspective on what it means to prove your love to the world.

On a rainy night in, Bone Lake is a perfect watch with your favorite snacks and some ghoulfriends. However, the deeper you dive into its waters, the more horror fans might feel let down by Joshua Friedlander’s script. The film plays with the horrors of isolation, stranger danger, and a classic fight for survival. It carries a dialogue about intimacy, trust, and gendered expectations in modern relationships. The first act gives the viewer so much to chew on that the imagination conjures fantasies much more thrilling than what the film delivers in its final moments. Luckily, Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s stylistic eye is aided by another collaboration with friend and cinematographer Nick Matthews, director of photography for Spoonful of Sugar as well as Saw X (2023), and this aesthetic flare is tantalizing enough for Bone Lake to deserve your attention.

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