Bone Lake (2025)

Bone Lake (2025)

Does this title remind you of Eden Lake (2008)? That’s probably no coincidence!
At this rate, these films are going to put us off the idea of relaxing by a lake, let alone taking the time to admire it.

It’s not Stacy Green’s Bone Lake that’s been adapted for the screen, if you’re wondering!

What would you do if you were spending a romantic weekend in a dream location, but strangers turned up saying they had also rented the place at the same time as you?

Here we have people who appear to be in their thirties. They are not constantly on their phones. There are always the serious types who earn a lot of money and the dreamers who want to become artists.

Everyone has a different sex life, and the different anatomy of men and women plays a big role in choices and desires. A man may find it harder to understand the usefulness of sex toys than a woman. A woman will also be less often or less easily satisfied and will need a sex toy to finish on her own… unless she uses the shower head in the bath!

How would you feel if your partner masturbated? If you caught them in the act, would you interrupt them? Would you feel cheated on? Or that you weren’t enough for them, that you couldn’t satisfy them?

And, besides, I’m not someone who loves games, so I’m not much of a gamer. So I was happy to see a guy like me in this film. ‘There’s enough competition in this world already. I prefer activities that promote harmony!’ I feel like I’m going to use that line a lot whenever I feel trapped at a party.

A very twisted film, subtly disturbing. There’s a jump scare at the beginning, as if to make it look good or as if it had to follow the rules of horror cinema. A well-crafted thriller, even if you can see a lot of things coming, especially if you know the story. But the opening scene, which is quite brutal and painful, already gives a good idea of the violence that is to follow, in principle.

There’s quite a bit of nudity and sexuality, which isn’t always disturbing, but is still intrusive. Breasts aren’t always shown in close-up, but are hidden by hands or hair, which makes it more sensual and artistic.

There are some incredible, completely crazy moments, and there are scenes that I had to watch at least twice. The criminals are totally crazy with a very dark sense of humour. But the main couple are far from stupid, just completely lost. These details are quite important, as they prevent the film from sinking for a good while.

The villains genuinely believe they are doing good by destroying people, because they think they are doing a service by exposing their victims’ darkest sides. But I think I’ve said enough. Go see the film if this kind of story interests you!

The big question, once again, is: do the last twenty minutes ruin the film? I’d say it’s more like the last ten minutes! They descend into gore, as if we really couldn’t do without it. They become incoherent, ridiculous, overly comical, exaggerated… in short… they destroy everything that had held up throughout the rest of the film.

This makes it another film from 2025 that won’t make it to the podium, as far as I’m concerned. It might just make it into the Top 20.

It’s a shame to want to please everyone. It’s the best way to keep no one! Those last ten minutes of carnage will disappoint everyone who loved the rest. And they will appeal to those who hated the rest. You have to be a pretty good audience to appreciate it all. For me, it’s a little too harsh and difficult to appreciate a film that is very good, but has such a pitiful beginning and ending. It’s a real shame, because it means I can’t recommend the film to anyone. Sad!