A party game goes horribly wrong in Bodies Bodies Bodies. Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and her new girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova) travel to the mansion of Sophie’s best friend David (Pete Davidson) to crash a “hurricane party” that also includes David’s girlfriend Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), podcaster Alice (Rachel Sennott) and her older boyfriend Greg (Lee Pace), and enigmatic Jordon (Myha’la Herrold). With the storm raging outside, Sophie suggests that the group play the murder mystery game “Bodies Bodies Bodies.” However, soon bodies start dropping for real, and so does the friendly facade of this group of twenty-somethings.
Bodies Bodies Bodies is a horror comedy from actor-turned-director Halina Reijn, which takes place at a party hosted by a group of wealthy twenty-somethings. Sophie has become an outcast from the group recently, and her arrival at the party with Bee, her girlfriend of six weeks, comes as a surprise. However, it isn’t long until they are welcomed into the fold and follow Sophie’s suggestion to play a “murder in the dark” style party game. However, when real murders begin, the suspicions and backstabbing increase to a fever pitch.
On the surface, Bodies Bodies Bodies has the typical slasher film set-up, as this group of friends try to figure out which one of them is a killer. However, the film ends up being more of a character study, as the true colours of these so-called friends are exposed as they begin to suspect each other of being a murderer. This leads towards somewhat of a gotcha moment in the final minutes, tying the plot together in a pretty ironic fashion.
The ensemble of Bodies Bodies Bodies includes many up-and-coming female actors, including Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games), Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), and Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby). As the only major male characters and most established faces in the film, Pete Davidson (King of Staten Island) and Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy) are prominent examples of stunt casting, which in some ways foreshadows their fate in the film.
As a horror film, Bodies Bodies Bodies admittedly is not that successful when it comes to building suspense. However, the film still ends up being a solid satirical breakdown of Gen-Z, with characters depicted as being heavily fixated on TikTok memes while also coming off as somewhat insincere in their wokeness, particularly in regards to issues such as relationships, substance abuse, and mental health. None of the characters of Bodies Bodies Bodies are revealed to be very nice or empathetic people, with the growing body count only serving to bring out the worst in them.