If you’re not familiar, the film is based on a 1985 novella of the same name by William S. Burroughs, which also serves as a partial sequel to his 1953 novella. junkie. It centers on American Marine soldier Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), who becomes the focus of the obsession of the much older William Lee (Daniel Craig), an American expat and struggling drug addict in Mexico City.

After Craig’s character does some convincing, the two finally head to South America to look for a telepathy-inducing psychedelic in the jungle. The journey between the two includes a lot of nudity, a lot of sex and a lot of commitment from the actors, including Omar Apollo, who made his brief but notable film debut as one of Craig’s other on-screen lovers.

In a recent interview with TIMEGuadagnino, Craig, Starkey and Apollo all addressed heavy sex, with Guadagnino saying, “For me, this isn’t about gayness or homosexuality, but more about: Are we ready for a connection?” What stops these characters from having a full-fledged connection “To connect?”

This extensive link-up includes some very graphic and completely nude images, in which Starkey admitted he used prosthetics, which is a common practice to aid actors in sex scenes.

“We have to embarrass ourselves in front of each other,” Starkey said. “And achieve small successes in choreography among each other. That’s embedded itself in everything.”

Craig said of the others why he himself didn’t go completely head-on: “They’re young. They’re young and beautiful.” As for the sex, he admitted they “chose that kind of vulnerability and kept it as real as possible,” with hopes reflected well on screen.

Apollo, on the other hand, has neither confirmed nor denied whether he used one for his role. For now, we’ll just allow ourselves to pretend we’ve seen it all.

Catch Strange is in theaters now and keep an eye out for the streaming release.