‘Bones and All’: Director Luca Guadagnino Said He Had ‘Way More’ Gory Footage of Cannibalism That He Cut From the Final Film

This year’s Venice Film Festival gave eager theatergoers a sneak peek at the most anticipated movies of the year, including Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All. The gothic romance might have grossed out some viewers, but the filmmaker claims he left gorier footage on the cutting room floor. 

‘Bones And All’ stars Luca Guadagnino’s prior collaborators Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Chloë Sevigny

Bones And All tells the story of Lee and Maren, two runaways who fall in love and share a taste for human flesh. As they journey across the ’80s Midwest, the pair meet others with cannibalistic compulsions. 

Guadagnino teamed up with one of his favorite collaborators for this project. Timothée Chalamet became an overnight sensation with his role in the director’s 2017 movie Call Me By Your Name. In Bones and All, the 26-year-old plays Lee. 

“It’s not as if I left Timothée at the height of his booming success, and then I found him four years later,” the director told IndieWire. “We kept close. I knew that there was not much time to wait until we worked together, but only for the right project.”

He also called on previous collaborators Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name) and Chloë Sevigny (We Are Who We Are). 

Luca Guadagnino reveals there was ‘way more’ gore in cut scenes

While some were drawn to this offbeat approach to portraying cannibalism on screen, others were turned off by the violence. However, Guadagnino claims the gore shown on screen could have been much worse:

“We had way more. shot so much more, but in the editing process, my editor and I were always clear that we should never be selfish about our capacity to portray horror. There was a lot of pain that was happening to the characters, a kind of sacred reverence. It was quite beautiful, humbling, reverential.”

Fans of Guadagnino can’t wait to see the divisive Bones And All. The movie is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on November 23. 

Why Taylor Russell wanted to work with Luca Guadagnino

Playing the part of Maren is Taylor Russell, who made a splash with her role in 2019’s Waves. Russell was a fan of Guadagnino before being cast, particularly of his HBO miniseries We Are Who We Are. 

“[We Are Who We Are] hit me so deeply,” she told Indie Wire. “He’s on my list of directors where the best possible outcome would be me working with him. It could’ve been any film, and I would’ve done it with Luca.”

She also spoke about Guadagnino’s commitment to showing cannibalism in a sympathetic light:

“It felt very punk and authentic to just say, ‘F*ck everything, this is the reality of these people and it’s about love.’ At the end of the day, all of Luca’s movies are about that — love of people on the outside. This is an extreme version of that, but because it’s an extreme version, you really sink into it. I wasn’t worried about the cannibalism.”