[2] He wrote and directed Something Organic (1998), The Pornographer (2001), Tiresia (2003), Cindy: The Doll Is Mine (2005), On War (2008), House of Tolerance (2011), Saint Laurent (2014), Nocturama (2016), Zombi Child (2019), Coma (2022), and The Beast (2023).

He was nominated for the César Award for Best Director for Saint Laurent, and was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2015.

Bonello's background is in classical music,[3][4] and he started playing the piano at the age of five.

[3] His feature directorial debut, Something Organic, was screened in the Panorama section of the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.

[15] Bonello owns the production company My New Picture, which has produced all his films since On War (2008).

[18] Bonello was in a relationship with his frequent collaborator, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, with whom he had a daughter who was born in 2003.