Bone

Larry Cohen's first film, from 1972, tells of a wealthy couple in Beverly Hills whose house is broken into. But the film does not go where you expect: the intruder discovers that the couple's marriage has long since rotted, and the hostage situation turns into a session of family therapy. What Cohen does is expose fears of race and class as black comedy: the threat the white couple project onto a Black man is nothing beside their own decay. Yaphet Kotto's performance carries the shifts of tone the film requires. The production is small and technically rough. It could not be marketed on release and circulated for years under different titles. Who it's for: viewers who like American independent cinema of the seventies and black comedy. Who it's not for: anyone who wants clear genre expectations met, or avoiding scenes with sexual content and racist language.