Summary
Bodies Bodies Bodies is a wicked and bloody good time.
This review of the film Bodies Bodies Bodies does not contains spoilers.
Oh, the bad things that happen to Zoomers when they get together in large mansions and are left to their own devices. I mean, horrible things. It’s no different for any generation because everyone fears the dark. No matter how sensitive the Gen-Z population is to mental health issues and how vocal they are to political correctness. Bodies Bodies Bodies seamlessly combines both with a wickedly smart script from Sarah DeLappe.
The film starts with a young same-sex couple, Sophie (The Hate U Give’s Amandla Stenberg) and Bee (Academy Award-nominated Maria Bakalova). Bee is stoic and says nothing when, on their way to Sophie’s best friend’s house, David (Pete Davidson) tells Bee she loves her. Bee is originally from Ukraine but is the quiet type and has nothing to do with the language barrier. She takes things in and has a lot to digest when meeting Sophie’s friends. Jordan (Plan B’s Myha’la Herrold) thinks she has grit because she comes from a middle-class family. Emma (On the Rocks’ Chase Sui Wonders) is David’s girlfriend. They, to put it mildly, have relationship issues. He strikes me as having a crush on Alice (Rachel Sennott) because he keeps needling her new 40-something boyfriend she found on Tinder, Greg (Lee Pace). He is a veteran who utilizes meditation and therapy masks.
Sophie has a drug problem and has not seen her friends for two years. Jordan is skeptical of Bee and toes the line of a concerned friend for Sophie or obsessing over her. However, she eventually befriends Bee after some drinks. They all dance the night away until Sophie has an idea — let’s play Bodies Bodies Bodies. They tear up a piece of yellow paper. One has an “X”, and each takes one. Everyone hides until the “ghost” finds one of them. They pretend to be dead. The only problem is one turns out to be, uh, very dead. Now, the remaining few must find out who is the real killer among them. Why not just call the cops? Well, did I not mention this is a hurricane party? It landed a couple of hours beforehand. There is no way out or cell service. Even the landline is down.
The film is directed by Halina Reijn (Instinct), her feature film directorial debut. We mentioned that DeLappe rewrote the script, but the original was from Kristen Roupenian (who was given a story credit), so she also deserves recognition. The final product is a sharp dark comic satire that brings the best out of its young, talented cast. They are all so good here, but Stenberg’s Sophie and Bakalova’s Bee have terrific chemistry and are responsible for much of the film’s tension-filled stamina. Shiva Baby’s Rachel Sennott draws out the most laughs. She is hilariously using empathy in the bloodiest situations to relate to anyone with mental health issues because of her body dysmorphia. And don’t get her started about her podcast.
Yes, the script isn’t perfect because it tries to conjure up characters that are too different. You have the drug addict one, the neurotic one, the cool one, the nice one, etc. Many may complain the payoff is a road to nowhere, but the plotted script makes it work. However, the big reveal is a well-deserved credit to the filmmaking team here. It’s equally original and happens to be absurdly funny. I won’t say more for fear of spoilers, but just know this — Bodies Bodies Bodies is a bloody good time at the movies.
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