Bodies Bodies Bodies – A Hilarious Gen Z Whodunnit

The generational gap has never been more apparent and only continues to widen. That being said, audiences don’t always have to relate to empathize with the characters they see on screen in order to enjoy a film. When it comes to Bodies Bodies Bodies, it’s a film that is sure to be divisive but is nevertheless a hilarious whodunnit dark comedy featuring characters who are the absolute worst which perhaps was the larger point. Though its premise is simple, it takes audiences on a wild ride full of twists and turns that never wears out its welcome thanks to a short running time just over the 90-minute mark. Meanwhile, a cool aesthetic boosted by some great lighting and some strong writing that it to the next level. While the unlikability factor of its characters and the film’s brand of humor may not necessarily work with everyone, most of the fun comes from the subsequent devolution of that dynamic which ultimately works thanks to its performances across the board as everyone commits to the bloody insanity.

Bodies Bodies Bodies takes place in a conveniently isolated location as a group of rich young adults reunite for a party during an incoming hurricane but the real destruction came from within as their seemingly strong dynamic began to devolve under the weight of their volatile personalities following a party game which became something a lot more as there appeared to be a killer among them. This adversity perhaps saw their survival instincts come to the surface as their true natures and all the other truths that came with it was now out in the open. Suffice it to say that this made for an uncomfortable vibe that certainly tested their friendships or at least what they thought to be friendships. Either way, there was still a killer in a remote mansion with them all while a hurricane raged outside. Was the killer one of them or someone else all together? Or maybe there wasn’t a killer at all? Emotions were high therefore they were probably not in the best position to process all this information. However, they didn’t have much of a choice as their goal was to survive. The only question was who would get to them first, the alleged killer or each other.

Where Bodies Bodies Bodies lives or dies is the ability of audiences to get behind its characters. Purposefully written to be the worst, watching them fumble their way around the house and each other is hilarious but only if there is still at least a base amount of investment there. Character backstories are essentially irrelevant therefore where the film truly thrives is the conflict between them which is basically the story for the most part. That conflict could get tiresome as the dialog is geared towards the same audience as the characters. In the end, the whodunnit angle with the added wrinkle of the Gen Z dysfunction of the characters did provide plenty of tension and suspense as the writing does an admirable job at keeping the ridiculous characters who were merely the means to an end on edge and also audiences on the edge of their seats until the end. Grounding the insanity was a woman named Sophie (Stenberg) whose estrangement from the group following some personal issues and her less-fortunate girlfriend Bee (Bakalova) made for an interesting contrast. Though flawed, the different perspective of the latter only further accentuated the many flaws of the others.

As mentioned, Bodies Bodies Bodies rounds out the package with some great atmosphere work in the form of camerawork, lighting, and a cool score to establish a mood and create a sense of tension and suspense as characters are put through the ringer. The best part of the film is its stellar performances across the board in spite of the unlikable characters. Stenberg and Bakalova may lead the way but everybody has their time to shine, including Sennott as Alice, Myha’la Herrold as Jordan, Chase Sui Wonders as Emma, Lee Pace as Greg, and Pete Davidson as David. The chemistry all around was a highlight, especially that of the five actresses playing the main female characters.

At the end of the day, Bodies Bodies Bodies takes the whodunnit genre in a different direction for better or worse but is nonetheless a blast.

still courtesy of A24

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.