When a group of rich 20-somethings plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion, a party game turns deadly in this fresh and funny look at backstabbing, fake friends, and one party gone very, very wrong. -Synopsis
This movie had a viral moment after Amandla Stenberg (who plays the lead- Sophie) messaged NYT film critic, Lena Wilson, after Wilson called the film a “95-minute advertisement for cleavage.” In a direct message (DM), the 25 y.o. actress wrote: “Ur review was great, maybe if you had gotten your eyes off my tits you could’ve watched the movie.” The title/game played are based on Body Body (or Murder In The Dark) where players run around in a dark room while the murderer “kills” players by tapping them, hoping to get away w/ “killing” the entire group. This is Dutch director Halina Reijn’s 1st film to be made in the US; she allowed the (young/Gen Z) cast to choose songs and improvise some of the dialogue. The screenwriters are Sarah DeLappe and Kristen Roupenian (who worked on the viral op ed turned movie- Cat Person). As this movie takes place mostly in the dark, w/ the only source of light being cellphones, a headlamp, and glow tubes, the cast was instructed on how to light scenes/themselves from the cinematographer, Jasper Wolf.
As one critic commented: this movie (distributed by A24) shows how “Gen Z’s social life has been greatly affected by the use of social media.” Another issue here is toxic masculinity, as the director noted. This cast is mostly little-known, though some may be familiar w/ 30 y.o. Pete Davidson (who plays Dave, Sophie’s BFF); he’s known for SNL and relationships w/ famous women. The other man here is played by the handsome/tall (6’5″) Lee Pace (now 45); he’s the slacker/Tinder hook-up of Alice (Rachel Sennott). As I noted before, Sennott appeared recently in two indie comedies- Shiva Baby and Bottoms. For sabering-the-champagne-bottle near the start of the movie, Pace practiced at home using Thranduil’s sword from The Hobbit (2012)- LOL!
The movie opens w/ a close-up of two young women kissing and sharing their emotions; it soon shifts to them in a car texting on their phones. Such is modern life! Sophie and her gf, Bee (Maria Balalova- a Bulgarian actress seen in Borat 2) go to a hurricane party at a mansion. These diverse partiers are ALL from wealthy families, perhaps aside from Bee (w/ an Eastern European accent) and Greg (who they assume to be a war vet). There is little character development; most of these ppl are NOT likeable. As they drink, take drugs, and- worst of all- treat each others cruelly, your patience might wear thin. The dialogue is often banal and unfunny, as many critics/viewers have commented. I realize that this is NOT geared to ppl my age; however, it’s an undercooked waste of time!
[1] 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.
[2] Part of me wants to rate this well for how good it is at touching on a lot of what Gen Z is today. A lot of me wants to give this a thumbs down for how completely unlikable the characters are, how overplayed the point is, and how predictable and dumb the whole movie ends up being.
I give it points for it’s grounded approach. It advertises itself as a slasher, but it really ends up mostly being a deconstruction of these characters. Nothing over the top or typically slasher. Unfortunately, everyone here is a cliche.
[3] 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.
-Excerpts from IMDb reviews
Knightleyemma 