Streaming
Service:
Netflix
Movie
Name/Year: Bodies
Bodies Bodies
(2022)
Genre:
Comedy,
Horror, Thriller
Length: 1h 34min
Rating: R
Director:
Halina
Reijn
Writers:
Sarah
DeLappe, Kristen Roupenian
Actors:
Amandla
Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha'la, Rachel Sennott, Chase Sui Wonders,
Pete Davidson, Lee Pace, Conner O'Malley
IMDb
Blurb:
When
a group of rich 20-somethings plan a hurricane party at a remote
family mansion, a party game turns deadly in this fresh and funny
look at backstabbing, fake friends, and one party gone very, very
wrong.
Cat’s
Point of View:
Bodies Bodies Bodies had an
intriguing trailer. I was pulled in right away and it promised to
give a decidedly Gen-Zish spin on horror-comedy. Selina was also
thinking along the same lines, as she said the following within her
#8 listing of Bodies Bodies Bodies on August
2022's Top 20 article:
“The whole flick feels very
elder-gen-Z, and I do not hate that idea. The trailer looks funny, of
our time, and brutal. It’s exactly what I would want from a
horror-comedy.”
As an aside, it was my own #13 pick,
and I couldn't wait to watch.
We were both also interested in this
movie based on casting, as well. While Selina is more of a Pete
Davidson (The King of Staten Island, Good Mourning, Transformers:
Rise of the Beasts) fan than I am, I was intrigued as to how Lee
Pace's (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Guardians of the
Galaxy, Halt and Catch Fire) character fit in with this younger
crowd.
Amandla Stenberg (The Darkest Minds,
Dear Evan Hansen, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse) and Maria
Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Bubble, Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol.3) were also relatively known variables going into
this film and didn't disappoint. Even though I wasn't as familiar
with Myha'la (Industry, Black Mirror, Leave the World Behind),
Rachel Sennott (Call Your Mother, Bottoms, I Used to be Funny),
and Chase Sui Wonders (Wake, Out of the Blue, City on Fire) at
the time, it didn't matter for this production. They caught my
attention with Bodies Bodies Bodies as they inhabited these
roles of privileged youth within this story so well. Saying that out
loud doesn't exactly seem to translate as a compliment, given the
personalities of some of these characters on-screen, but it is what
it is – and, indeed, meant as a compliment. I digress...
If you were to ask me what Bodies
Bodies Bodies was really about, I'd have to say it was something
along the lines of a live-action version of “Among Us,” which is
a who-done-it murder mystery multi-player video game that Selina and
I very much enjoy. Of course, this game was played out with drugged
up and intoxicated college-age young adults rather than a space crew
fending off alien impostors through social deduction.
This all takes place during a hurricane party. For those
that haven't heard of those before... it's a real thing that
typically takes place in Florida or along the Gulf Coast when the
incoming tropical weather isn't expected to be too strong – on the
scale of massive tropical storms, that is. Category 1 you say? Batten
down the hatches to minimize property damage but then pull out the
booze. At least, that's generally how it goes. My immediate area
within Louisiana is generally too land-locked to get storms of that
intensity, and if we do it's generally after it's already decimated a
huge swath of one or more states on the way to us, and we're busy
with sand bags and hiding from twisters. Needless to say, I haven't
personally partaken in such shenanigans, but I know some friends who
have.
Storms have a way of amping up anxiety
in already tense situations. When you add recreational drug use and
alcohol to that mix and then layer on a game where everyone becomes
the murder suspect – and wait, there's more – and THEN there's
real death involved on top of that? It's a dangerous cocktail with
side effects of paranoia, hasty decisions, and poor reasoning. What
could go wrong, right?
I recently watched an interview with
the director, Holland native Halina Reijn (Instinct, Red Light,
For the Birds), and a good number of the cast where they revealed
that while shooting this movie that takes place during a powerful
storm, they had to take shelter in the basement due to a storm
warning. I believe that it enhanced how the cast were able to respond
to and vibe with that aspect of the setting very well.
Bodies Bodies Bodies had tension, comedy, and carnage that had me on the edge of my seat, even though most of the characters weren't very likable. There was so much face-palming on my part, too.
The ending left me speechless for a few
moments. Everything I thought I'd figured out went completely out the
window. This wasn't my first watch-through of Bodies Bodies
Bodies, either. This second time around I watched with my
daughter, who is only a few years off of the character's ages. It was
fun to see her reaction to the twist, since I knew what was coming
this time.
All told, Bodies Bodies Bodies
was a solid comedy-horror offering that had many layers to it deeper
than the surface mayhem surrounding young adults behaving badly while
not mature enough to be left unsupervised. I wouldn't mind watching
it again, if the mood struck and am not shy about giving it a
recommendation.
Rotten
Tomatoes Critic Score – 85%
Rotten
Tomatoes Audience Score – 69%
Metascore
– 69%
Metacritic
User Score –
5.7/10
IMDB
Score – 6.2/10
Trust
the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4.5/5
Movie
Trailer:
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