BODIES BODIES BODIES |
★★★½☆
14 September 2022
A movie review of BODIES BODIES BODIES.
|
Director: Halina Reijn.
Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, Pete Davidson.
“I love you. You don’t have to say it back,” Sophie (Amandla Stenberg)
Now that the just launched iPhone 14 models all have that SOS satellite emergency function, what will movies (especially the horror genre) do about mobile phones? The no signal isolation is no longer going to cut it. Or is every flick going forward going to be a period piece, set before September 2022? BODIES BODIES BODIES premiered just in time. The opening has a doozy of a shot. The landscape of a vast forest, with like a cliff thrown in, screams middle of nowhere. A literal and metaphorical storm is coming, which will knock out cell coverage of course.
Sophie arrives late to a twenty-something soirée (five women, two guys). It is meant to be a weekend of hair loosening and catching up. Immediately there is deftly portrayed social unease (scarier than any bogey-people?). Tension as to unspoken coteries and resentments, envy and insecurities. Plus, a massive void of self-awareness. Histories between individuals are woven into dialogue without expository eye-rolling.
Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, Pete Davidson.
“I love you. You don’t have to say it back,” Sophie (Amandla Stenberg)
Now that the just launched iPhone 14 models all have that SOS satellite emergency function, what will movies (especially the horror genre) do about mobile phones? The no signal isolation is no longer going to cut it. Or is every flick going forward going to be a period piece, set before September 2022? BODIES BODIES BODIES premiered just in time. The opening has a doozy of a shot. The landscape of a vast forest, with like a cliff thrown in, screams middle of nowhere. A literal and metaphorical storm is coming, which will knock out cell coverage of course.
Sophie arrives late to a twenty-something soirée (five women, two guys). It is meant to be a weekend of hair loosening and catching up. Immediately there is deftly portrayed social unease (scarier than any bogey-people?). Tension as to unspoken coteries and resentments, envy and insecurities. Plus, a massive void of self-awareness. Histories between individuals are woven into dialogue without expository eye-rolling.
|
|
Sophie arrives late, to the chagrin of her pals/acquaintances, with new lover in tow, Bee (Maria Bakalova). The location is the mansion of the father of David (Pete Davidson) – who epitomes the outré obnoxiousness that will be on display off and on throughout. It is a pre-hurricane party. (More movies should be set during storms – the constant background ruckus should provide a continual backdrop of propulsive suspense.) Sophie walks in on a competition on who can hold their breath longer while underwater in a swimming pool. Needlessly putting yourself in danger for bragging rights is an idea that bookends the narrative.
BODIES BODIES BODIES is an ace slasher horror-comedy. There is a ‘Lord of the Flies’ vibe brewing. A sense that any of the partygoers will be verbally pounced on (and worse) if they put a foot wrong. Bee seems especially vulnerable, until she shows herself not to be. Don’t judge a book, etc. is the phrase that might have saved lives here. Before the killing commences, one wonders what kind of punishments, at long gestating slights, will be meted out.
As the hurricane winds up, as individuals wind each other up, the group look to pass the time with a game, the titular ‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’. A murder-mystery whodunnit where someone pretends to murder and people pretend to be victims. Face slapping is involved. The movie goes from passive-aggressive to aggressive-aggressive. All while being bitingly funny. (If you enjoy this film, check out ASSASSINATION NATION [2018].) The only thing missing for me is the gleeful carnage of say a TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL [2010]. However, there are plenty of choice lines of dialogue – veering into the brutal. You know as an audience member you are having fun, when words are almost as cutting as a brandished sword.