Cannibalism. The act of eating one’s flesh, or completely consuming a person.

One could argue that it is the most intimate display of love that exists — the only true way for someone to become a part of yourself. Both grotesque and intriguing, the topic has been contentious and popular in the modern filmmaking sphere. Just earlier this year, Ryan Murphy’s, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, swept audiences off their feet by featuring heavy themes of cannibalism and gore.

Acclaimed film director Luca Guadagnino decided to take his creative bite out of the concept by flipping the entire premise on its head. Last month, he gifted viewers with sweet tender romance accompanied by cannibalistic themes in the new coming-of-age film Bones and All, starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell.

In this disturbing motion picture, the audience follows young cannibal Maren, newly abandoned by her father after she acted on her impulses. She decides to backpack across the American Midwest in search of her absent mother. Along the way, she meets a few arcane figures. She is introduced to Sully, played by Mark Rylance, who is a fellow ‘eater’. She also comes across Timotheé Chalamet’s character, Lee, a fellow teen drifter who has figured out how to live comfortably and freely as an eater. The two become smitten, bonding over their shared ‘condition’. They continue on Maren’s journey to find her lost parent, as she adjusts to her new identity and lifestyle and picks up a couple of ‘snacks’ on the way.

The most glaringly obvious impression of the film is its setting, which is the bible belt in the 1980s, a time and place so familiar, yet so far gone in today’s media. The film does an astonishing job of acclimating the audience to its time, so much so that when one walks out of the theater, it’s as if they have just stepped out of a time capsule. Even if viewers are of a younger generation and have no memories of the late ’80s, the film still strikes an untapped area of pleasant nostalgia in the audience’s psyche.

With the subtle additions of iconic retro items such as the Chia Pet™, the prominence of the band Kiss, and Lee’s various graphic tees, the environment transforms the film into a pop culture tribute. The stellar camerawork also illustrates this with intentionally grainy wide shots and Tarantino-esque zoom-ins. Unfortunately, the aesthetic is where the pleasant nostalgia ends. As anybody who lived through that time could testify, the ’80s were filled with tragedy and bigotry. Rampant racism, moral panic, the cold war, and the AIDS epidemic plagued the entire decade, and this aspect is not forgotten about or glossed over in Bones and All.

Many critics and reviewers have speculated on the meaning behind the Guadcagnino film. The popular theory is that the film is an elaborate allegory for the AIDs epidemic and the injustice and intolerance that the LGBT community experienced during the crisis. Others believe that the film is an artistic representation of addiction and the struggles that accompany it. Cannibalism is simply a placeholder for the obsessive desires that addicts attempt to repress. Guadagnino has yet to confirm any of these messages, although the ambiguity of the true meaning allows the film to be relatable and applicable to any situation. Overall, the film is truly about the feeling of ‘otherness’ and finding a sense of belonging in a world that doesn’t accept people, even if the thing that differentiates them happens to be cannibalism.

The choice of using cannibalism as a tool to demonstrate social division seems to be a shocking and confusing decision at first, but the usage of cannibalism is masterfully done. One might see the trailer and deduce that the film is just some gory flick created for the sole purpose of satisfying some hidden, degenerate niche. Any viewer of the film would argue the opposite. The film doesn’t do anything to embellish or romanticize its violence or gore. It doesn’t hide it or make it easy to watch, but it is never central to the film’s understanding, plot, or characters, which makes the brutal scenes that much more impactful. The carnage only serves as a  stand-in for whatever human ill the audience wants to assign to it, which allows the audience to relate to the characters even further.