Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

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Image via miff.com.au

This Gen Z horror comedy is bound to become a pop culture favourite with its witty and quotable dialogue and great blend of gore and laughs.

The film opens with an extreme close up of Sophie (Amandla Stenberg showing us that Rue is all grown up) and Bee (Maria Bakalova) having a full-on ‘pash sesh’ and it sets the scene for the dramas of the heart about to unfold. Sophie with Bee in tow turns up unannounced at a ‘hurricane party’ – a party held while a hurricane is about to hit – at the secluded (could it be any other type) mansion of her friend David (Pete Davidson).

All her friends are there – stroppy Jordan (Myha’la Herrold), needy Alice (Rachel Sennott), serene Emma (Chase Sui Winders) – and a ring in, older dude Greg (Lee Pace) who is Alice’s Tinder date. Jealousies and brittle alliances abound, particularly around Sophie, and as they all wind up into party mode and the storm descends, you can feel that something is going to go awry.

And it does and then some. While playing a game of Bodies Bodies Bodies (a kind of Murder in the Dark), one of the group turns up dead and the night spirals into paranoia, blood and broken friendships.

Touted as a mix of Clue, Scream and Mean Girls, the film ends up feeling like something very contemporary that has superceded them all. What makes it more than just a stylish gore-fest is the spot-on characterisations of Gen Z language and sensibilities. It doesn’t feel like its punching down as it reflects a much broader culture that dominates social media, we can see ourselves in the platitudes and pitfalls.

The performances are good, just stopping short of stereotype and there are some genuine jump scares. Horrors can be made or broken by their endings and this one is a cracker, helping make the whole narrative feel remarkably relatable and, in fact, probable.


Have you seen this film? Let me know your thoughts.

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