Say the names Timothée Chalamet and Luca Guadagnino and the first images to come to mind are probably the sun-soaked Italian countryside and a very teary visit to your nearest fireplace. Cannibalism probably wouldn’t be your first, second or even third identifier — but that’s what the highly-anticipated Bones and All is going to contend with.
The film functions as something of a much-needed reunion for Timmy with his acclaimed Call Me By Your Name director — a victory lap of sorts, considering that film’s early acclaim and subsequent Oscar campaign really solidified him as a mainstream talent to watch.
Bones and All is also a first in the A Bigger Splash filmmaker’s oeuvre since it’s his first set in the US, with the film’s setting serving as a massive source of inspiration for the director. “I’ve been totally influenced by the American culture, American cinema and now, American landscape,” he told Deadline. “I’m very happy and proud that I’ve finally come to this shore.”
As for his reunion with the future Young Willy Wonka, the film gives him something to really sink his teeth into. “[The character] is something very different for him,” the director continued. “Both endearing and heartbreaking.”
In a new interview with Deadline, Luca explains the connection between love and cannibalism, saying that he had never read the Bones and All script as a horror movie. “‘I love you and want to eat you’ — It’s almost as bananas as that,” he says. “It’s part of our way of expressing our deep passion for something: I love you to death. I will eat you because I love you so much, or the metaphor of the wafer in the Catholic church. It’s the metaphors that makes the idea of a terminal consumption reflecting the intensity of our passion.” Well, he’s not wrong.
So what else do we know about it? And for God’s sake, when can we see it? Here’s all we know about Bones and All.
What’s the plot of Bones and All?
Adapted by Suspiria writer David Kajganich from the novel of the same name by Camille DeAngelis, the film follows Maren (Taylor Russell), a young woman-slash-flesh eater learning to live on the outskirts of society who encounters Lee (Timothée’s character) on a cross-country road trip. Together, they team up to find her absent father and understand why she feels the need to eat the people that love her.
Is there a trailer or any video clips out?
There certainly is. Proceeding a strange string of tweets from Timmy himself — about “soft”, “crunchy” and “boney” bones; he did not neglect to mention the “boner bone” — our first real look at the mysterious movie arrived on 10 August.
We catch a conversation between Lee and Maren as the two mysteriously talk about an intense, euphoric experience Lee had. Did the two have some cannibalistic foreplay or was something else going on? We’ll have to wait till the movie’s release to find out.
Now, we have our longest look yet at the movie in a trailer that dropped on 5 October. Beware, the grisly preview does offer up some mild, inadvertent spoilers, so watch with caution:
Will Bones and All be gory?
Speaking to Fantastic Man, Luca argued that though the movie is about cannibalism, it’s not necessarily extreme in the same sense as other movies in the genre, such as Raw or Fresh. “I like to think that Bones and All is an extremely romantic movie, addressing the romanticism that lies within us and within relationships in general,” the director says. “Of course, there’s the literal aspect of it being a movie about cannibal lovers, which is extreme in many ways, but I think the more extreme aspect of the movie is the intensity of the feelings that these people go through — the impossibility of love.” He does note, though, that he’s unsure if others might find the movie extreme upon viewing: “I’ve learned that you can only tell once you start showing the movie to people.”
Who’s in the movie’s cast?
This movie boasts a host of reunions for cast and crew alike. Call Me By Your Name patriarch Michael Stuhlbarg has joined the project, as well as Kids icon Chloë Sevigny, who worked with Luca on We Are Who We Are (2021), his highly-acclaimed HBO limited series. Waves’ Taylor Russell, as we mentioned, plays Maren.
Oscar-winner Sir Mark Rylance rounds out the cast with the additions of André Holland, Jessica Harper and Halloween director David Gordon Green in his acting debut.
Wait, wasn’t Francesca Scorsese supposed to be in this?
Indeed, Martin Scorsese’s daughter (also of We Are Who We Are fame) appeared on an earlier cast list for the film. However, as the actor and filmmaker explained in a recent Instagram story, her role – as a character named Harmony – has since been cut. She had fun though!
When will Bones and All be released?
Bones and All will hit US theatres on 18 November, before rolling out with a wide release on 23 November 2022.
[Editor’s note: this piece previously contained information sourced from World of Reel that reported on apparent reactions to a private screening. World of Reel could not verify this information and have since removed it.]