Bodies Bodies Bodies

When A24 released the first trailer for one of their newest films, Bodies Bodies Bodies, I wasn't sure what to make of it. It felt almost like Scream, but with a modern spin, and while I can say it's not that, this is an enjoyable film if you know what you're in for. It won't be for everyone though, as this film is loaded with subject matter that will turn certain viewers off. All I will say is that it's worth watching, even if you're not enjoying yourself and I'll explain why. You don't have to rush out and see Bodies Bodies Bodies, but here's why it's worth a watch.

During a hurricane, a group of young adults party in their friend's mansion, while doing drugs and drinking a lot of alcohol. Not in their right mind, they decide to play a game that requires the skill of trying to find the killer. Things go very wrong though when one of them actually turns up dead. Trying to figure out who the killer is, this group lets out many bottled-up emotions and continuously backstab each other. This makes for some entertaining scenes of heavy dialogue, but it also works against the film in my opinion. The banter/arguing between characters is nearly half of what this film is, but I get that it was meant to be tongue and cheek. It just didn't quite do it for me all the time. In fact, if it wasn't for the ending, I'm not even sure I'd be talking highly about this film at all.

About halfway through the film, I wasn't even sure who to root for, even though I knew which characters the film wanted me to care about the most. The mystery always kept me on the edge of my seat, having no idea who the killer was, but I also wasn't sure I even cared that much. With that said, the way this film wraps up is one of my favourite few minutes of the year. Yes, I loved the ending that much. The issue is though, I don't think the rest of the film was enjoyable enough to say that I loved it overall. I will gladly watch this film over and over again with people who haven't seen it though. This is the type of film that has a reveal that comes out of nowhere and I couldn't get enough of it.

Overall, Bodies Bodies Bodies has some fun dialogue and Halina Reijn's directing work (which I have yet to see, until now) was also very commendable. It's just a fun horror/comedy that's not supposed to be taken as anything more. If it was that from start to finish, I'd barely give this film a pass because I just mildly enjoy myself. Again though, it's all about that ending for me. When the film finished, I thought back through the film and it worked a lot better for me. Some people may not like it as much as I did, but I wanted to stand up and cheer for the writers on this one, Sarah DeLappe crafted one hell of a twist. Bodies Bodies Bodies is now playing in select theatres, and while I do recommend it, this can easily be watched at home.

Not every story needs a hero and it can be refreshing when the characters are a little more "real" and grounded. But it's more difficult to write characters that are jerks that you still want to follow. Bodies Bodies Bodies is aware that the entire group of people they've centred the movie around are terrible people. It's not a blunder or something the creative team overlooked, but I'm not sure why they made that choice. Is the entire point that young people suck? That's fine... but other than the fact they're rich and are snorting and smoking everything in sight, they don't go about it in an amusing way. The movie is trying to crack jokes but it fails at that as well. You don't need heroic or even likeable characters but it forces the story to do even more heavy lifting to hold your attention.

Bodies is a movie where it isn't easy to separate the actors from their characters. I've already talked about how this movie is intentionally populated by vapid and annoying characters. This choice also makes it harder to distinguish between a badly written character or a mishandled performance. If I had to pick a member of the cast that was the most impressive, I'd go with Amandla Stenberg playing the emotionally vulnerable Sophie. She's grown up a lot since her appearance in The Hunger Games and with her character drying out and trying to stay sober, she did a good job being erratic and unpredictable. I liked Maria Bakalova so much in Borat Subsequent, she's just fine here. It's not a comedic role but she didn't have the same spark she showed previously. If there was someone who got on my nerves, Pete Davidson's character David was extra snarky and annoying but I couldn't really distinguish if that was just the character or something he was putting on top of it.

The only defence I can really muster for Bodies is that the central mystery was interesting enough to sustain me through all of the dead air. With all the characters unable to properly process due to the illicit substances and the hurricane raging outside, it could have been anyone and that's properly played up. The reveal is unique but it's also fitting as it kind of fizzles out like most of the tension. I'll give them credit for being creative but I just kind of shrugged as we hit the closing credits.

I've seen worse than Bodies Bodies Bodies but I don't get why there was such huge hype from the critics. Bodies isn't scary and there's only so much tension and excitement to be gleaned from the premise. The acting was fine but it was also hampered by the characters being so self-absorbed and hard to like. While the twist is kind-of new, it didn't mean much and I was still left disappointed that I sunk an hour and a half into this. I'm giving it a 5/10 and I'm probably being generous. We're getting much better thrillers and horror movies more frequently now, you're better off checking out one of those.

A modern horror of sorts, no scares and mild action. Mostly focused on trying to study the breakdown of people in the wake of suspicion. As I was looking for some good scares, I left feeling disappointed. I should have kept my old ass at home.

This is a fairly enjoyable and mildly funny movie with some good satirical elements. I had a good time for the most part, except when the extensive arguments started to annoy me. Solid for a one-time viewing. (1 viewing, SuperScreen 8/17/2022)

Quite literally like spending the day with your significant other's insipid friends and trying to navigate the intricate and tangled web of group dynamics spun over time; an ordeal which ultimately isn't worth the effort of trying to assimilate. While the "twist" does make everything work a bit better, it still doesn't make it worth your time. Especially when it's the only possible resolution for a murder plot so confined by its setting and lack of characters. The film almost works as contemporary satire, one of a society so stimulated by buzzwords and armchair psychology that it no longer remembers what it's like to have organic or innate thoughts. It examines how constant exposure to contradicting layers of discourse only leads to further confusion and insecurity, which in turn forces individuals to cling even tighter to their own tangled logic. Manic dramatizations and over-complications of reality result in the inability to grasp even the simplest of truths. This is the film's thesis. Unfortunately, it would have carried more weight if it didn't feel as though it were contrived from the same virtual hive mind it so readily condemns.