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Bones and All is a new romantic horror film from Italian director Luca Guadagnino, whose past works include Call Me By Your Name, A Bigger Splash, and the 2018 reimagining of Suspiria. Based on the best-selling novel by Camille DeAngelis, this movie stars Taylor Russell (Waves) and Timothée Chalamet (Dune) as a cannibalistic couple that travels across America in the late 1980s.
Bones and All is Guadagnino's second horror film after Suspiria and comes from the same screenwriter, David Kajganich. It is also Chalamet's second collaboration with Guadagnino after Call Me By Your Name and the first movie that he is credited with producing. If you're a fan of anyone involved or are fascinated by the premise, then here's everything we know so far about Bones and All.
Editor's Note: This piece was updated on November 13 to include the latest trailer.
When Will Bones and All Be Released?
Bones and All made its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2022. The film will have a limited release on November 18, 2022, after that, the film will have a wide release on November 23, 2022, the day before Thanksgiving. As of this moment, Bones and All faces some major competition as it comes out the same weekend as the Korean War fighter pilot drama Devotion, the Steven Spielberg autobiography The Fabelmans, the fantastical Disney animated movie Strange World, and the horror film Nanny.
Watch the Bones and All Trailer
The first official teaser for Bones and All was released on August 10, 2022, via Chalamet's Twitter. This twenty-eight-second preview aims to match the film's supposed blend of horror and romance as it features several instances of both throughout. MGM released the full trailer for Bones and All on September 29, 2022. Set to Leonard Cohen's "You Want It Darker" the trailer teases the brutality and romance of Luca Guadagnino's latest film. A new trailer for the movie was released on October 5, which you can see below. This was followed by a red band clip titled "Sleepover". The clip shows Taylor Russell's Maren sneaking out to go for a sleepover with some new friends. This then leads to a conversation where we find out more about Maren's life and the fact that her mother is not in the picture. What seems like an intimate picture of young girls hanging out soon takes a drastically dark turn when Maren bites into one of her new friends' finger, before running away to her father, whose reaction makes it clear that this isn't the first time this has happened.
Who's In the Cast of Bones and All?
Taylor Russell plays Maren Yearly, a troubled young woman who lives in exile due to her cannibalistic urges. Russell first garnered attention after playing Judy Robinson in the Netflix sci-fi series Lost in Space. She has also appeared in several movies such as Before I Fall, Waves, and both Escape Room films. Guadagnino spoke about why he cast Russell as the lead of Bones and All:
“I’ve been a fan of Taylor Russell since I saw her in Waves, and I made it a point to myself to make sure we found something to do together. When I read the script, I went straight to her because she is such a bright, sensible actress. This is a very romantic story, about the impossibility of love and yet, the need for it. Even in extreme circumstances. Timmy and Taylor have this power, this gleaming power, to portray these universal feelings.”
Timothée Chalamet plays Lee, a young drifter and fellow cannibal who falls in love with Maren. Chalamet gained prominence as an actor in 2017 after playing Elio in the Guadagnino's coming-of-age film Call Me By Your Name, which earned him an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. Since then, Chalamet has starred in several major releases including Lady Bird, The French Dispatch, and Dune. Guadagnino spoke about reuniting with Chalamet for Bones and All:
“I’d been handed this beautiful script by David Kajganich, and while I was reading it, I felt like I knew how to make this movie. At the same time, the second I read it, I said, I think only Timothee can play this role. It was serendipity because he was in Rome and I was in Rome and we met after this year of Covid constriction, and we could meet and spend time together. He’s fantastic, a great performer and to see him soaring the way he is doing now, I feel proud of him. And this character is something very new for him, both endearing and heartbreaking.”
Other cast members include Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Anna Cobb (We're All Going to the World's Fair), Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man), André Holland (Moonlight), Jessica Harper (Suspiria), Chloë Sevigny (Boys Don't Cry), Francesca Scorsese (We Are Who We Are), and Halloween reboot trilogy director David Gordon Green.
When Was Bones and All Filmed?
Bones and All began principal photography in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 28, 2021. During production, the cars of several crewmembers were reportedly broken into and various items were stolen including a gun, cash, clothes, and tools. In response, the filmmakers received $50,000 from the city council for added protection. Filming officially wrapped on July 22, 2021.
What Is Bones and All About?
The official plot synopsis of Bones and All is as follows:
A story of first love between Maren (Taylor Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Timothée Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter, as they meet and join together for a thousand-mile odyssey which takes them through the back roads, hidden passages and trap doors of Ronald Reagan's America. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.
Rylance has also discussed the similarities between Bones and All and Guadagnino's past works:
"Yeah, it's a really curious genre. It's a road movie, but it's also like a Bonnie and Clyde romance. And they happen to be eating people. So it's got a very thoughtful aspect to it about things that we inherit from our parents. A little bit like Call Me By Your Name, in terms of discovering you are gay, something you didn't know about yourself. How do you deal with that? Thankfully, in the West it's easier now than, say, if you discovered that in Afghanistan or somewhere where it would be a death sentence."
It will be interesting to see how Bones and All combines the tender coming-of-age elements of Call Me By Your Name with the more gruesome horror elements of Suspiria.
What's Next for Luca Guadagnino and Timothée Chalamet?
Even after Bones and All, Luca Guadagnino still has plenty of upcoming projects lined up. Some of the movies he's set to direct include a period drama starring Jennifer Lawrence, a Lord of the Flies film, a Scarface remake written by the Coen Brothers, an adaptation of the documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, an Audrey Hepburn biopic starring Rooney Mara, and Challengers a romantic sports dramedy starring Zendaya.
As for Timothée Chalamet, he's also going to be busy after Bones and All. Chalamet is playing Willy Wonka in the character's origin film Wonka and is reprising the role of Paul Atreides in the highly anticipated sci-fi sequel Dune: Part Two, both of which come out in 2023.