Why ‘Call Me By Your Name’ Felt Like Watching A Horror Movie

When I rented Call Me By Your Name on Prime Video this weekend, I thought I’d discover a pretty looking movie with a nice story, but one that would ultimately not live up to the hype it received this past Oscar season. What I didn’t expect was that the completely enthralling and moving film would play out more like a horror movie, than your run of the mill heterosexual Nicholas Sparks romance.

No, there’s no masked killer; it’s a romance that takes place over the course of one summer in a quiet Northern Italy town. But the rhythm of this film had me on the edge of my seat, heart pounding, unable to snack or look away. Part of the reason this movie about dudes riding bikes and swimming and making out a little felt so intense and exciting — and even a little bit scary — is that instead of building towards a major death or the unmasking of a killer in a horror film, in Call Me By Your Name. the story is heading towards, actual, real, realized love. That can be even scarier than some psycho with a knife.

We get a little nervous during a viewing of a horror flick because, instinctually, we as the audience know death is coming. And if we can see it coming, we hope our favorite characters do, as well (though they rarely do). In Call Me By Your Name, I knew that love was coming for Oliver (Armie Hammer) and Elio (Timothée Chalamet). But I worried that they didn’t know, or wouldn’t know it was right behind them the whole time. Like a spooky figure popping up in the reflection of a mirror, I jumped when Oliver grabbed Elio’s wrist and asked, “Hey, what time you got?” My eyes widened when he gave Elio a back massage in between volleyball serves, and my breathing sped up with Elio’s as he lay in bed while Oliver peed, hoping he would turn around and notice him lying awake and enter his room. When the guys were lounging in the grass, and Oliver starts tracing Elio’s mouth with his finger, I had to stop eating. I was too nervous, and I had to focus: would this be it? My entire neck clenched up and I could’ve really used one of those Oliver massages.

Few films outside of the horror/thriller genre consistently press the viewer to wonder, “Oh god, what’s going to happen?” the way this one does. Part of this is definitely due to my expectations as a cisgender heterosexual female viewer. I’ve seen Katherine Heigl make out with another man more times than I’d like to count. I know everything will work out for Bridget Jones.

But for Oliver and Elio, I wasn’t sure. Would they give in and accept themselves, and each other? Would they get caught? Would there be repercussions? Could this last past a summer?

And because we are (or damn well should be) hoping for these two to get together, and to see more gay or non-hetero relationships in mainstream movies, it provides a heightened viewing experience. There was something jarring about how calm the build-up and execution of their hook-ups came to be, and something even more exciting about how normal it felt to watch this happen, after wishing for them to kiss. I couldn’t sit back and watch and simply wait for everything to work out like it does for Bridget Jones. There were more risks for these two, even more than for a chubby single woman in her 30’s.

And the ending! If Call Me By Your Name is a horror movie, then it was Elio who died, and the killer’s name was love. I had to go back through the movie and look for the signs, to place all the clues that led us to this conclusion. And so I rewatched the movie all over again: experiencing that lovely, haunting soundtrack, watching Elio’s moodiness and jealousy and desperation to get out on that dance floor for attention, and the way he continuously glanced at his watch, counting down to his own destruction in the form of an intimate night with Oliver. Between Chalamet’s impressive full-body performance and Hammer’s handsomeness, it was spelled out all along. Their journey of love didn’t make me jump any less the second time around, and the ending still hurt, like a knife through the heart.

Where to watch Call Me By Your Name