Bodies Bodies Bodies: Film Review
Buckle up, you’re in for a wild, blood-soaked ride packed full of Gen Z dialogue with the horror-comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies.
The film follows Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and her new girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova) as they rock up unannounced at Sophie’s best friend David’s (Pete Davidson) mansion to party during an incoming storm. During the evening, Sophie suggests playing Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, a game in the dark where “the killer” murders people one by one and the others have to figure out who did it. What starts off as a fun game becomes a very literal nightmare.
I really liked the set-up and was interested in learning the history between the characters because nobody seems happy that Sophie showed up. I was keen to get into the friendships and unpack all the tension and drama there. The writing was strong at the beginning and I had a clear sense of the players – including Alice (the standout Rachel Sennott), her much older boyfriend Greg (Lee Pace), Jordan (Myha’la Herrold) and David’s girlfriend Emma (Chase Sui Wonders).
But the film didn’t turn out the way I expected. I thought this would be a nasty, terrifying slasher but it wasn’t. It is admittedly creepy and unnerving watching the characters walk around the house alone in the dark as I kept waiting for something to happen and for the next person to fall. But this whodunit devolves into chaos with a lot of arguing, finger-pointing and running around the house with phone torches.
In the Bodies, Bodies, Bodies game, after each person is found “dead”, the group have to reconvene to accuse someone of being the killer. The movie follows this structure too so the story eventually becomes dominated by yelling and accusatory arguments that prove none of these “friends” trust each other or even like each other very much. They’ve just known each other for a long time – and maybe it’s time to move on.
Some of these “you’re the killer” interrogation scenes are well-written and one particular scene stands out in which they are brutally honest and say some truly mean and shocking things to each other. But some of the scenes also felt repetitive and messy and the characters became super annoying and this is where the wheels fell off. I liked the twist ending though!
Bodies Bodies Bodies is very bloody but it’s not as gory or scary as I’d expected so horror fans might be disappointed. It’s also not as funny as I’d hoped – I laughed a few times and this is mostly thanks to Sennott and Davidson as everyone else basically plays it straight (even comic genius Bakalova!) This movie is a classic case of great concept but poor execution.
In cinemas from Friday 9th September