Bodies Bodies Bodies – Blu-Ray Review

Bodies Bodies Bodies is a sort of satirical slasher film, with a very zeitgeisty take on old and new tropes associated with the who-done-it genre. A bunch of obnoxious Generation Z types travel to a mansion owned by a rich friend. The mansion is in a remote location, and with a hurricane expected, it seems like a great place to ride it out and party. They plan to play “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” a live murder mystery game—but it ends up being a little more interactive than they anticipated

The film features some good young actors, including Rachel Sennott as podcaster Alice—who is by far the standout. Maria Bakalova is also really good in it. Sennott seems to be have made a niche for herself with this and Shiva Baby of playing young queer Jewish girls, despite not being queer or Jewish. And it’s the only time other than The Suicide Squad when I found Pete Davidson remotely enjoyable in anything. All the characters are terminally online and completely self-obsessed.

It ends up being a semi-clever take on an old theme. The screenwriter obviously spends way too much time on Twitter and the Internet in general for their own good. Almost every word the characters say is some kind of online buzzword to discuss trauma. While it tries to be a biting satire on class and privilege, the bite is too soft. It also probably won’t appeal to real slasher movie fans because it’s probably a little hipstery for your hardcore genre fans.

While Bodies Bodies Bodies is fairly enjoyable, it’s also not as good as some people say. I could not relate to any of the people, really. It’s good to see an old story done in a contemporary way—although the references made there will ultimately date the film considerably. It’s 94 minutes long so it doesn’t outstay its welcome, and that helps. It does recall films that are much better, including Scream, Jennifer’s Body and Heathers. There are a couple of pretty good twists, especially the final one. Still, I felt like an old man after watching it—and I’m only 32. But then watching Euphoria has the same effect…

The disc includes a commentary from director Halina Reijn, and some deleted scenes.

★★★

Ian Schultz

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