The Intimacy of a Nightstand
Looking at Bones & All (2022) and the effect of clutter.
If you use TikTok, you might remember a trend a while ago where people were showing off their nightstands - some aesthetically and some satirically. As a proud nightstand clutterer, I knew when I saw this frame in the final montage of Bones and All that I couldn’t wait to be able to pause it and look at the sidetable in detail. Nerdy I know, but I think you can tell a lot about a person, or people, from looking at the space immediately around them and how they use it.
Spoilers ahead!
As Lee begs Maren to eat him, this shot of their nightstand appears, giving us glimpse into the normal life the couple were living just moments before their past caught up with them. The open condom wrapper, the chapsticks and used tissues haphazardly strewn across the top feels routine, comfortable, even natural - all things the two have both longed for. The small drop of blood is almost the same colour as the red chapstick, blending in with the clutter naturally as if it were just some dripped wax from the candle or spilled wine from the cup, representative of their inability to truly hide from their natures, as it (if you excuse the pun) bleeds into their new normalcy. Maren’s walkman and a novel, her crutches in the film, also appear, showing that she’s feels safe enough to be herself and live like normal people, surrounded by books and music.
Although this shot is clearly not of the nightstand, this frame appears directly after the shot of the table. Whilst the table is haphazard in a domestic sort of way, with objects finding a home wherever comfortably, this clutter has been chaotically cast across the floor by the reality of the couple’s situation. But we can see the continuation of Maren’s attempt at a normal life with novels, chocolate and jewelry.
As much as I love huge, grand world building on screen, there’s just something about pure domesticity on film that is so entrancing. It is really a testament to those who work on these films and spend so much time creating and adding so many layers to characters and their environments.