Review: 'Bodies Bodies Bodies' is a scathing morality tale for an unaccountable generation

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Bodies Bodies Bodies
3.5 out of 5 Stars
Director: Halina Reijn
Writers: Sarah DeLappe, Kristen Roupenian
Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Baklova, Rachel Sennott
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Rated: R for violence, bloody images, drug use, sexual references, and pervasive language.

Studio Synopsis: When a group of rich 20-somethings plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion, a party game goes awry in this fresh and funny look at backstabbing, fake friends and one party gone very, very wrong.

Review: Bee (Maria Bakalova) travels with her girlfriend Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) to attend a party at a remote mansion where old friends have the tradition of celebrating the arrival of a hurricane by doing copious amounts of drugs and essentially stare down the inclement weather. Maybe this is how trust fund babies rage against their gods. It’s hedonistic and probably rooted in something pagan. Everything fun is.

Bee isn’t wealthy. She’s, maybe, a Russian immigrant who attended Utah State University, a school with a rather generic name that is known for its agriculture programs. They also have a strong journalism department. My grandparents met there. It’s not exactly Ivy League.

There’s something off about Bee. The way she doesn’t say “I love you” to Sophie, and how she stares intensely at herself in the mirror to have the courage to meet new people. Sophie’s friends are intimidating. Intimidating and mostly insufferable. There is David (Pete Davidson), Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), Alice (Rachel Sennott), Jordan (Myha'la Herrold) and some older guy named Greg (Lee Pace). Another friend, Max (Conner O’Malley), left the party before Sophie and Bee arrive. Max, while under the influence of something, made an honest, heartfelt proclamation that didn’t have a Hollywood ending.

Emma is an “actress” and Alice is a “podcaster,” Greg is an older guy who Alice met online. I don’t recall if David had an occupation. They’d all like to be TikTok famous. They don’t particularly like each other. Nevertheless, they decide to play a murder mystery game. And someone ends up real life dead. Paranoia sets in as the body count rises. The drugs don’t help.

Mixing cocaine and privilege isn’t anything new. It’s been the glamourous stimulant choice for as long as I can remember. In the 1980s, if James Spader was in a film, I just assumed he was jacked up on cocaine. The character, not necessarily the actor. “Bodies Bodies Bodies” feels like a film Spader could have starred in. It’s an essay on excess and unaccountability. It could have been called “I Didn’t Do It.” Sounds like a Jordan Peel movie. And like a Jordan Peel film, “Bodies Bodies Bodies” has a lot to say about contemporary America.

And it is ugly.

I suspect this won’t sit well with the 20-somethings who are expecting a traditional horror comedy; not one that eviscerates modern culture.

I firmly believe that “Bodies Bodies Bodies” is exactly the vicious satire that director Halina Reijn intended it to be. That writers Sarah DeLappe and Kristen Roupenian never set out to create likeable characters and that the laughs that are earned all originate from an incredibly uncomfortable place. It's all about the façade. It uses horror tropes, but isn't really intended to be frightening in a boogeyman sort of way. It's more of a morality play.

But is it any good?

Mostly, yes. It’s not subtle. In fact, it is so incredibly blunt that I’m still trying to decide if that is a good or bad thing. Maybe it’s neither.

And yet, it’s not as poignant as “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” as mind bursting as “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” as frightening as “Men,” as immersive as “The Northman,” or as layered as “You Won’t Be Alone.” Still there is absolutely something about “Bodies Bodies Bodies” that I admire.

So, what is it?

Cinema is intended to be an experience. “Bodies Bodies Bodies” is undeniably that. Give me some time to untangle the rest.