Every generation needs their Teen Slasher movie updating tropes from the past. For Gen X it was the incredible Scream. For Millennials, we’ll say it’s either Jennifer’s Body or Cabin in the Woods. Bodies Bodies Bodies is the first entry of hopefully many for Gen Z, astutely finding that tricky horror comedy balancing act for a new generation, though that might be my toxic masculinity wokeness, or whatever buzzword du jour fits best talking.
We open on the blooming romance between the rich Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and working class Bee (Maria Bakalova), though Sophie is way more into Bee. No matter though, because a hurricane is coming, and you know what that means: MANSION HURRICANE PARTY! Sophie and Bee go to her best friend David’s (Pete Davidson) mansion, where all Sophie’s teenage friends are hanging out. You’ve got party animal Alice (Rachel Sennott) with her middle age boyfriend Mark (Lee Pace). You’ve got Emma (Chase Sui Wonders) dating David, and Jordan (Myha’la Herrold), dating no one and clearly pissed about it. When the rain forces them inside, the girls play a drinking ish game called Bodies Bodies Bodies, where someone plays a killer who goes around trying to fake murder the other party guests. And wouldn’t you know it, someone starts taking the game seriously.
While Scream and Cabin in the Woods focused on the horror genre specifically, Bodies Bodies Bodies goes bigger and critiques the worst representatives of Gen Z. With the exception of Bee and Mark, everyone else in this movie is a spoiled, rich brat. Even worse, they’re damaged spoiled brats, completely unable to cope with any failures in their lives, or any stress at all, for that matter. So when the bodies bodies bodies hit the floor, all that ugliness inside of them creeps to the surface. But because they’re Gen Z, they redirect that pain via woke related deflections onto the others. There’s a Mexican, wait, Latinx, standoff in the middle of this movie that finds that perfect sweet spot of horrifying and hilarious in equal measure, because all of the participants in question refuse to deal with their sh*t to the point of sheer insanity. Because everyone’s lives are superficial, so are all their relationships, Sarah DeLappe’s script pushes these people further and further into mass hysteria, culminating in the perfect plot twist of an ending that really paints a bleak outlook for our societal future.
While we’re satirizing entitled jerks, Bodies Bodies Bodies doesn’t forget it’s a horror movie either. The hurricane means the power goes out a lot, forcing everyone into darkness, with only phone lights, body glitter, or glow sticks lighting the way. Pete Davidson brings a nice twitchy creepy energy early and often, completely unsettling Bee and by proxy the audience. The sneaky brilliance of Bodies Bodies Bodies though is what these kids define as “horrific” is entirely different to them compared to the horror movie kids of the past. While all these girls are initially disarming, that empty rot inside of them slowly transforms the energy inside the house to legit fear thanks to Halina Reijn’s direction and the actors’ performances. So by the end, the audience realizes that for the Hurricane Party Kids, the contents of a cell phone is 100% worthy of a battle to the death.
Now that I’ve finished mansplaining Bodies Bodies Bodies to you, feel free to watch the film. Or do whatever the hell you want. I honestly don’t care. I accept whatever label you decide to throw at me at this point, while I go hang out with my friends and family who care about me.