“Relationships can be complicated,” explains one of the characters in Bodies Bodies Bodies, director Halina Reijn’s wickedly funny whodunit set on a dark and stormy night in the mansion of a rich kid where a group of twenty-something friends have turned up to party.
When a blackout inevitably occurs and a dead body mysteriously appears amid a game of ‘murder’ the friends and lovers rapidly turn on one another. Sarah DeLappe and Kristen Roupenian have scripted a smart combination of slasher and satire that hilariously sends up the TikTok generation while also relating to the difficulty of getting to grips with friendships and amorous connections in the modern day where deception is all too easy on social media and dating apps.
Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) is a recovering drug addict who surprises her group of wealthy friends by showing up at their gathering with her new girlfriend Bee (a fantastic Maria Baklova). Host David (Pete Davidson) greets them with little enthusiasm, and there’s an undercurrent of suspicion between the group and Sophie that works well to keep the viewer guessing as to who the killer is and what their motives are. Alice (the brilliant Rachel Sennott from Shiva Baby) plays a loquacious podcaster with body issues whose older Tinder match Greg (Lee Pace) adds some big laughs when it comes to the generation gap. Jordan (Myha’la Herrold) and Emma (Chase Sui Wonders) make up the rest of the group.
Reijn’s finely orchestrated ambience of frenzy and tension is a blast to watch, and the game performances, particularly from the young ensemble cast of female actors as they savagely jump at each other’s throats, deliciously ups the ante. Lurking paranoia, bloody murder and vicious accusations deliver the jump scares and barefaced lies bring the laughs in a horror comedy that confronts the fakery, mistrust and desperation of modern times.
Bodies Bodies Bodies will be in UK and Irish cinemas from 9 September, 2022. Read more reviews from SciFiNow here.
