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Bodies Bodies Bodies Movie Review

Bodies Bodies Bodies is a 2022 slasher comedy film directed by Halina Reijn and starring Maria Bakalova, Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson among others. It’s a very original movie.

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“Did you just fucking shoot me?“

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When a group of 20-somethings gets stuck at a remote mansion during a hurricane, a party game gone very, very wrong ends with a dead body on the ground and fake friends at every turn as they try to find the killer among them. This is not a traditional horror movie. It’s framed within the horror context, but the actual story hinges on comedy much more so than any horror.

It is very much a parody of the slasher genre in the vein of ‘Scream’, but the difference is that this is a comedy first and foremost. The twist ending cemented the fact that this is not horror, which to some may pose a problem, but to me it was mostly a positive development as that twist was absolutely brilliant. I have never seen anything quite like it and it really worked. It was both highly clever and really unexpected, and most importantly it made perfect sense.

This is actually a surprisingly thematically rich movie that takes a stab at some of the worst developments going on in the West, especially in the US with this newer generation. It criticizes the generation’s obsession with identity politics, culture wars and virtue signaling, making great fun of fake activism and just how annoying it can be. The online discourses, podcasts and terrible use of social networks are also heavily criticized while the film’s best point is that young people nowadays do not know how to properly communicate, which led to that horrifically hilarious ending.

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It’s the type of movie that is a great proof of why I mostly fail to connect with younger people, even if I am still technically young myself. And these young people are particularly atrocious as not one of them is likable here in any capacity. The extremely off-putting personalities and the immense nihilism on display made the movie tough to sit through at times, but this sheer unpleasantness is realistic in a way, so I did not mind it too much.

Amandla Stenberg as Sophie is pretty good, though this was a rather uninteresting character to play. Maria Bakalova fared much better, but her excellent comedic timing wasn’t put to good use here, which was unfortunate. Bee is a serious character and a rather odd one at that, but the dynamic between the two is somewhat intriguing.

Jordan is very unlikable, but believable. Emma is ridiculous, but again highly believable as this girl who is begging for attention both online and in real life. Alice is forgettable, but Lee Pace was quite fun as Greg and Pete Davidson was very well cast as basically himself in the role of dumb David. The two men were ridiculously sidelined in an overly female-driven movie.

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These characters in Bodies Bodies Bodies are underwritten, but the acting performances are so good that they elevated the roles. The film can be off-putting in these personalities and the dialogue is at times overbearing, but the themes are relevant and it’s nice seeing for once a film that is really modern and timely. The cinematography focusing on bright lights and darkness was also terrific while the directing from Halina Reijn was pretty strong.