Is 'Bones and All' connected to Armie Hammer's cannibal accusations? Here's how cannibalism evolved in Hollywood
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino is one of the most brilliant filmmakers working in the industry right now and he showed his capabilities with the 2017 Oscar-nominated movie ‘Call Me by Your Name’. The film not only gave a lot of recognition to Guadagnino, but it also made the film’s leading actors, Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer, superstars as well. Five years later, the Italian director is set to take everyone by storm with his latest movie ‘Bones and All’ starring Chalamet and Taylor Russell in leading roles.
‘Bones and All’ is a romantic horror movie that primarily focuses on a group of cannibals who travel together while trying to deal with their urges. Two young eaters, Maren Yearly and Lee, strike a connection and they both start a relationship. However, they deal with a lot of problematic situations while on the road and even murder people who always made their lives difficult. Cannibalism is one of the main themes of the movie and the storyline has already gotten a positive response from the critics as well as the audiences who have managed to watch the movie. However, some people believed that the movie has taken some inspiration from the disgraced actor Armie Hammer, who allegedly confirmed that he is a “cannibal”.
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Surprisingly, the movie comes a few months after Armie Hammer, one of the leading stars of Guadagnino’s ‘Call Me by Your Name’, was involved in a controversy where it was reported that the actor showed cannibalistic behavior while talking to women. In the Discovery+ documentary series ‘House of Hammer’, one of the most shocking allegations that surfaced against the actor came when it was revealed that he was a “cannibal”. In one of the messages, he allegedly wrote, “I am 100% a cannibal… fuck that’s scary to admit.” Meanwhile, another message read, “I want to see everything… I want to see your brain, your blood, your organs, every part of you… I would definitely bite it … 100%… or try to fuck it. Not sure which… probably both.”
‘Bones and All’ held its world premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival and won the Silver Lion award. On the other hand, in October 2022, the film had its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, where it received a thunderous response. However, after watching the movie, a lot of people alleged that the movie might be connected to the real-life controversy around Hammer. The remarks started to grow in numbers and that forced the filmmaker to come forward and shut down all such rumors.
While making an appearance at the Zurich Film Festival, the Italian filmmaker sharply responded to all such rumors and vehemently denied that the movie has some sort of ties with Hammer’s controversy. The director said that the movie’s writers have been working on the project since the book of the same name came out in 2015 and the project was discussed when they were shooting ‘Call Me by Your Name’.
“David Kajganich and Theresa Park, the writer and one of our producers, have been working on ‘Bones and All’ since the book was released [in 2015]. Many years ago, probably around the time when we were shooting ‘Call Me by Your Name,” Guadagnino said during the conversation.
The movie has received a lot of praise for its storytelling and impeccable performances, especially Chalamet and Mark Rylance. Even when the director has denied all the rumors, people still believe that there are some ties between the movie and Hammer’s cannibalistic allegations. To be honest, it’s just pure luck that Guadagnino made a movie on ‘cannibalism’ and similar kind of allegations were made in the movie.
‘Bones and All’ is not the only project that shows cannibalism. Netflix’s recent blockbuster hit series ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ also had a cannibalism theme. However, the movie by Guadagnino is different and it mixes heartfelt sentiment with extreme gore.
In recent years, cannibals in Hollywood have changed places. From villains to anti-heroes, cannibals are now the new sympathetic leads in movies and TV shows. A few years ago, no one thought a movie about cannibals will be reviewed with so much sensitivity and emotions. For some, it might be horrifying to see how cannibalism is now being glamorized in Hollywood and that’s Guadagnino had to face a lot of questions because one of the stars of his own films has allegedly admitted that he has eaten people.
Although the release of the movie was a bit polarizing, the film’s success shows that the controversy surrounding Hammer didn’t have a lot of effect on the movie’s reception and if you open Twitter, it is filled with a lot of praise for the movie.
With ‘Bones and All’, Guadagnino has made it clear that he is ready to take chances by telling bold stories on the big screen, but it does come with a price and there’s a section of people or viewers that are not thrilled to watch this, especially after Hammer’s docuseries and the accusations on him.
‘Bones and All’ is currently playing in theatres.
