What do you get when you mix the complex and misunderstood dynamics of female hormones, drugs, alcohol and TikTok?
Bodies Bodies Bodies might be the clean cut answer, and no, we aren’t talking about Pete Davidson’s conquests in Hollywood.
A completely dark, glow-sticky, trendy and self-aware feature that study the social behaviours of the nihilistic upbringing and very artificial yet sadly real issues of a group of super hot, sexy and horny Gen-Z’s, the film explores the world of imagination of what would happen if a dead body showed up unexpectedly at the house of a super rich, super privileged group of individuals while playing their own version of Werewolf, and how they would react, with no access the outside world, no electricity and….shall we dare say (gasps)* no Wi-Fi! If you’re wondering… Yeah, it turns out almost as you’d expect, with all the trust issues, body dysmorphia jokes and social drama any audience could humanly handle.
Led by an all-star cast of up and comers and as well as some familiar faces, Bodies Bodies Bodies is a well trained and sophisticated body of horror wrapped up into one fantastically stylist piece of cinema. Anchored by the incredibly talented Amandla Stenberg, who brings the very real yet sadly desensitized and all too familiar LA-type character to life. Stenberg plays Sophie, a recently rehabilitated baddie, Sophie decides to surprise all her friends by showing up unannounced to her best friend David’s (Pete Davidson) parents mansion all the while crashing the party everyone had in store to enjoy, drama free. But like any recently rehabilitated ex-crazy person, Sophie decides to soften the blow of her intrusion by introducing her sweet as pie new girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova) as a sort of palate cleaner of sort for Sophie’s crew of bffs.
While Sophie doesn’t realize that her group of friends are about as reliable and sophisticated as any LA/Toronto influencer party attendees would be, Bodies Bodies Bodies introduces us to each character in the most unhinged and unstable way, but just being themselves. With a plethora of super rich kids problems, each new girl and the pair of boys really shows off LA’s diverse youth; first we have the tight-lipped and backstabbing Jodan (Myha’la Herrold) a friend who would take to her grave the feelings of her friends social endeavours, then we have David’s girlfriend Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), a girlfriend who knows she’s in a toxic relationship but cannot get out, and lastly we have podcast star and obsessed social-media enthusiast Alice (Rachel Sennott), who absolutely steals the show and spotlight of the movie from the moment she enters the frame. Joining Alice for the weekend festivities is her older vet boyfriend Greg (Lee Pace), who allows the older audience to relate to the events happening on screen but also provide us with a bit of content to just how lost we truly are with the current youth of today.
As things start to go crazy quickly; including champagne bottles getting popped with swords, drinking games that include really hard slaps to the face and of course, zucchini Bread, Bodies Bodies Bodies sets up an unsettling foundation of girly cliques and a couple hyper masculine men who regurgitate their sexy appeal, whether it be through their physical bodies, or their declarations of how they look like they can f*ck. Impressions are at the pinnacle of each characters agenda.
With their newest, Bodies Bodies Bodies, actor turned director Halina Reijn takes a stab (literally) at Gen-Z; a social media obsessed, depraved group of individuals who define millennial culture and our current media-obsessed pop culture meta-world. But instead of just offering a very dramatic and throughout observation of the current youth of today, the filmmakers decide to slice and dice our expectations of consumption and really offer a killer take on the ramifications of social media and the hours and terrors of social expectations, in front of and behind the camera. The true monster of Bodies Bodies Bodies may not present on the screen for very long, but recognizable to all of us, all too well.
Add in some very clever uses of cinematic cheat codes, including a hurricane quickly approaching, the stage is set for a picture perfect slasher/horror comedy, as things go from bad to worse between biased accusations, personal vendettas and of course, good ol’ fashioned jealousy as tensions begin to brew.
In good A24 fashion, fusing so many genres altered and layered on top of each other like Ghostface’s body count, Bodies Bodies Bodies is the imaginary, illegitimate love child of Spring Breakers and Scream, and if you think you’re prepared of it, you really aren’t.
A movie of a man deescalating the events of one night, a man obsessed with seals and a killer dress (seriously, a dress that kills) are all films within the umbrella of A24, a production company that is known for its brave, audacious and fearless filmmaking. Yet, as one of the most mainstream/avante-guard production companies in the world, they are also one of the most reputable and respected production houses in Hollywood today. And despite the outlandishness of some of their projects (Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once and Spring Breakers), the powerhouse production company still manages to keep their name and reputation intact yearly, and of course, undoubtedly come awards season.
So, its not surprise that, keeping nearly after a decade of audacious filmmaking, the production house who’s credit jumped off the screen with their neon-love child Spring Breakers, A24 decided it was time to mock and dilute the youth of 2022; a youth VASTLY different than the youth of 2013.
What Bodies Bodies Bodies does so effortlessly is allow the audience to really bask in the tropes of the slasher horror comedy, and truly dissect a film that voluntary implements certain aspects of where and when they want to present these tropes, without every feeling familiar or pragmatic. As the bodies begin to pile and the accusations of who we think the murderer is, Bodies Bodies Bodies slowly picks away at our expectations of the genre and truly reinvents them, twists them and truly turns them on their head. If you think you know who is behind all of this madness, bloodshed and terror, YOU (clap) HAVE (clap) NO (clap) IDEA!
As the events unfold and the walls are painted red, the final girls begin to reveal themselves towards the movies ending and it becomes crystal clear what horrors of the McMansion will reveal themselves and how they affect the characters in the film, but also, how they affect us as well. Allowing a very big and broad commentary on spectator culture and spectacle culture, much like one of the most revered films of 2022, Jordan Peele’s masterwork Nope, Bodies Bodies Bodies may not have us looking up in the sky in 2022 for Jean Jacket, but I can assure you, Bodies Bodies Bodies slays and will have us looking over our backs in a room filled with people that we call our friends, and to me, that may just be as scary as anything you may find in the clouds.
Night Film Review: 7 Moons Out of Ten 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
What did you think of Bodies Bodies Bodies? The next great A24 film, or a too woke meta mess? Leave your thoughts below!