Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
dir. Halina Reijn
Rated: R
image: ©2022 A24
A tagline on the poster for the 1934 horror film The 9th Guest proclaims, “Eight were invited…but death came unasked!” The all-but-forgotten pre-Code murder mystery is an example of the “old dark house” subgenre of horror. The 9th Guest was based on a Broadway play, which itself was based on a 1930 novel. I love the fact that the plot employs the hip new technology of the time, wireless radio. The eight guests are informed by their unknown host – via mysterious radio transmission – that he considers them all his enemies, and that over the course of the night, they will meet his ninth guest…death!
The old dark house trope in horror movies is exactly what it sounds like. Get a motley cast of characters together on a “dark and stormy night,” signal that there is danger afoot in the form of a killer, introduce a power outage, let mayhem ensue. My favorite exemplar of the model is literally called The Old Dark House, and I was introduced to it in college. It was produced by Universal Studios horror impresario Carl Laemmle Jr. in 1932 and directed by the legendary James Whale, who directed the 1931 character-defining version of Frankenstein as well as the 1933 adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel The Invisible Man. Another pre-Code entry, The Old Dark House is, especially for 1932, fairly freaky stuff. Seek it out if you get the chance.
The new horror/comedy from independent studio A24, Bodies Bodies Bodies, is the old dark house subgenre for the 21st century. The script was based on a story by writer Kristen Roupenian, with a re-write by playwright and first-time screenwriter Sarah DeLappe. It was directed by Dutch actress, writer, and director Halina Reijn. I’m including that litany of names as a way to signal that I’m not sure who gets the credit for doing their homework on bringing the authenticity of the old dark house tropes and aesthetic to the picture. It’s likely that all three of them did.
We begin with an intimate moment between the recently formed couple Sophie and Bee. They’ve only been dating for a few weeks, but at the end of the introductory sequence, Sophie tells Bee that she loves her. Bee doesn’t reciprocate, but the two are late for a party, so they shelve the conversation for later.
The celebration that the young couple is late for is a hurricane party. David, the host – and Sophie’s best friend since childhood – is throwing the party at his parent’s house. The house screams obscene wealth. It’s big enough and secure enough that the guests feel comfortable riding out a hurricane while partying hard with booze and drugs. Among the other guests is David’s aspiring actress girlfriend Emma, Sophie’s bitingly sarcastic ex-girlfriend Jordan, airhead podcaster Alice – the name of her podcast is, hilariously, Hanging Out with Your Smartest, Funniest Friend – and Alice’s much-older new boyfriend, Greg.
During the storm, the group decides to play the game Bodies Bodies Bodies. Each participant gets a scrap of paper. On one of those scraps is an “X.” Whoever draws the X is the killer. With the lights out, the killer pinches another player to signal to that person that they have been murdered, meaning they must lie on the floor and play dead. When one of the other players stumbles upon the “victim,” they call out, “Bodies, bodies, bodies!” The lights come back on, and all the players try to determine which of them is the killer. (Coincidentally, a variation on the game was featured in a recent second-season episode of the delightful Hulu series Only Murders in the Building.)
With the storm raging outside, personal vendettas and recriminations boil over before and after one of the guests is murdered for real with a decorative sword that belongs to David’s father. With no cell service because of the hurricane, and a dead battery in the one car – Sophie’s – available to them, things, predictably, go downhill from there.
Bodies Bodies Bodies is slasher horror movie by way of an Agatha Christie murder mystery. (The slasher subgenre itself often borrows tropes from, and the structure of, a good, old-fashioned Christie-style murder mystery. It just so happens that the murderer is usually a homicidal – and often supernatural – maniac.) From the above description alone, you might assume that the movie would buckle under the weight of all its influences. Through a combination of DeLappe’s writing, Reijn’s direction, and the savagely funny performances from the cast, the film feels fresh enough to stand on its own while paying affectionate homage to what inspired it.
The 21st century update that Bodies incorporates into the proceedings is the satirical skewering of “safe space” language popularized by Gen Z. Or so I’m told. Here’s the thing. I didn’t realize that all of the “You’re silencing me,” “gaslighting,” “toxic,” and “triggering” talk was supposed to be satirical, per say. I knew that I was supposed to laugh at it. The way that the very funny cast delivers each of these emotionally charged buzzwords is unmistakably meant to cue laughter.
I recently turned 42 years old. I very rarely – and never for very long, when it does happen – interact with anyone under the age of 30 or so in my day-to-day life. So, I’ll be honest, I thought this was genuinely the way that young people today talk. (Jesus, typing that last sentence made me feel old.) Hell, I’ve picked up a few of these terms myself, like using the word gaslighting to describe the odious tactics of someone like the goblin Alex Jones. But the fact that some from this younger generation are skewering their contemporaries in this way means I should probably make an effort to engage more with them in an attempt to stay relevant and hip. (Yep, feeling old again.)
Bodies lives and dies by the young ensemble cast. There are only eight total characters within the movie’s tight 95-minute runtime. Each actor brings something unique to their role. Amandla Stenberg, who played supporting character Rue in The Hunger Games and lead character Starr in The Hate U Give, is enigmatic as Sophie. She’s the one who brings up the game that will turn into a nightmare for everyone at the party.
At one point, Sophie’s ex-girlfriend, Jordan – played by Myha'la Herrold – warns Bee that Sophie isn’t what she appears to be. That might be a real warning, or a head-game being played by a bitter former lover. The movie plays it coy, and part of the fun of Bodies Bodies Bodies is watching the characters excavate their dirty laundry in front of each other as the night wears on and everyone’s behavior gets uglier.
Maria Bakalova plays Bee with a sweet innocence that conveys how in over her head the character is with this bunch of well-to-do friends. Bee is from Eastern Europe and works a mind-numbing retail job at the local mall. She is quiet and shy, not sure how to behave in front of Sophie’s oldest, closest, and richest acquaintances. Bulgarian native Bakalova’s breakout role was as the teenage daughter of the titular character in the 2020 mockumentary Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the role and also had to put up with Rudy Giuliani sticking his hand down his pants in front of her during a surreptitious interview for the movie with the ex-NYC mayor and January 6 coup plotter.
Rachel Sennott – who received praise in 2020’s Shiva Baby, a movie I need to catch up with – is hilarious as the vacuous Alice. Her out-of-control reactions to her friends when things really start to go to hell made me laugh the hardest. Her fledgling relationship with himbo Greg – played to spacy perfection by Lee Pace – adds another wild card to the situation.
Then there’s Pete Davidson. The former SNL cast member is a lightning rod for love-him-or-hate-him reactions. The once- Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian paramour Davidson, who, according to at least one ex, has serious BDE, is funny as David. The character’s signature bit of dialog in the film feels like it could have been Davidson sardonically riffing on his own real-life persona: “…I just look like I fuck, you know what I mean? I look like I fuck, and that’s the vibe I like to put out there.”
The surprise twist ending to Bodies Bodies Bodies is an unforgettable tweak to the whodunit format. I honestly can’t recall it ever having been done before, but there may be people out there who could correct me on that. The movie is a funny, jump-inducing, diverting thrill-ride of horror and comedy that will keep you guessing until the final reveal.
Why it got 3.5 stars:
- Bodies Bodies Bodies is a lot of fun. That’s due in large part to the cast. I would never want to hang out with any of the characters, but watching them freak out on each other as they run around in a panic for an hour-and-a-half was entertaining as hell.
Things I forgot to mention in my review, because, well, I'm the Forgetful Film Critic:
- There’s an inspired 360° pan around the interior of a car with the surviving partygoers inside that is reminiscent of the same (though much more intricate) shot from Children of Men. I’m always wowed by that sort of bravura camera work, mostly for the degree of difficulty.
- At the tail end of the first act, Bee goes to Sophie’s car to retrieve something. She opens the sun visor to look at herself in the mirror, but leaves it open, with the lights around the mirror still on. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this action will have severe consequences as things get worse.
Close encounters with people in movie theaters:
- Rae and I attended a press/promotional screening. It was a packed house, and the entire crowd seemed really into the movie. Bodies Bodies Bodies is now playing in wide theatrical release, and it will be available in home theaters on September 7, on Showtime’s streaming service.