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Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross make up the Oscar-winning duo behind the Academy-Award winning sound in The Social Network as well as the ethereal soundtrack that defines the Great Beyond in Pixar’s 2020 film Soul. But this year, they went in a different direction when collaborating with director Luca Guadagnino on his cannibal romance Bones and All. Inspired by the classic sounds of the American heartland, the acoustic score compliments the story that reunites Guadagnino with screenwriter David Kajganich after their work together on the imaginative 2018 remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria.
Bones and All stars Waves actress Taylor Russell alongside heartthrob Timothée Chalamet, who previously worked with Guadagnino on the Academy Award-nominated 2017 film Call Me By Your Name, as young cannibals — Maren and Lee. The teenagers find themselves on the fringes of society, trying to understand their penchant for human flesh in the film based on the dark 2016 young adult novel by Camille DeAngelis.
A longtime fan of Reznor and Ross’ work with Nine Inch Nails as well as their successful film scores, Guadagnino worried he wouldn’t be able to get the composers for his modestly budgeted Bones and All. However, Reznor and Ross shared that they were in as soon as they learned the Italian film director was interested in them for his love story about cannibals. IndieWire exclusively shared a featurette courtesy of MGM that delved into their inspiration behind the “the simple, beautiful naked guitar” that defined the film’s unique sound. “When we got the first cut of the film, no music or anything in it, we thought that this was a masterpiece,” Reznor said.
“We knew that the guitar was going to be the central element,” Ross said. “All the music is one performance edited with the film. Initially very acoustic but as time moves on these disparate stories come together.” He added, “It’s one of the scores that I’m most proud of.”
Collider’s own Brian Formo said in his review of the film as a part of the 2022 Venice coverge: “The opening is full of shadows and darkness, punctuated gorgeously by streetlights and bedroom lights—the places where Maren is escaping and plunging into the unknown. Once it becomes a love story, the look of Bones and All becomes more hopeful with blue skies and open roads. There is a message about needing to accept yourself in order to love someone else, which is tried and true. But, even though there is bloodshed on the screen and gnashing teeth in the sound design, the light overtakes the darkness too much.”
After debuting at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival and premiering for a wider audience last month, Bones and All is still in select theaters. Check out the new featuertte below: