Bodies Bodies Bodies, released in 2022 by entertainment company A24, is a horror-comedy movie that appeals to a younger audience but is excellent for anyone who likes horror that is not afraid of gore or poking fun at its audience.

A group of seven rich 20-something year olds hang out at their friend’s mansion in a remote part of the woods when disaster strikes as a hurricane takes out the power of the entire mansion. A game, trying to make light of the power outage, ends darkly as the group discovers the gruesome corpse of one of their friends in the dark. Chaos ensues and secrets are revealed as they try to uncover the secret killer in their friend group. 

Bodies Bodies Bodies is available on Netflix with a regular subscription and Hulu with a premium subscription. It is 1 hour and 35 minutes long, starring actresses Amandla Stenburg, who plays Sophie, and Maria Bakalova, who plays Bee. 

Bodies Bodies Bodies is set up as a classic “whodunit” horror movie but plays with its viewers by betraying its expectations through a twist ending. Though it is more directed at a younger audience, most of the comedy is making fun of some of the ridiculous parts of “Gen Z culture” that even Gen Z viewers can laugh at. 

The inclusion of Gen Z culture and humor in this movie was done amazingly and a perfect choice by director Halina Reijn. It is not just a movie by a bitter older person who thinks badly of the younger generation; it is a well-executed and genuine critique about the performative activism by many Gen Z people, especially those who are upper class. 

This critique occurs through a balance of characters being somewhat self-aware of certain issues but also showing through characterization how many of their “progressive” personalities lack when put through stress and must do the activism they preach so much in practice. A hilarious example of this is when Alice, a white character, reminds Sophie, a black character that “[she] understand[s], and [she is] an ally and [she] totally get[s] how it looks that away” when called out for her hypocrisy earlier in the movie.

The comedy and critique in this movie mixes amazingly with the horror aspect of it. Bodies Bodies Bodies does not skimp on the gore, nor does it sugar coat the terrifying situation the characters are in.

This movie includes many classic slasher tropes ranging from how the deaths are done to the targets being a group of young people who engage in a bad activity. In this movie’s instance it is drugs. In some ways it is a predictable movie, but that is not necessarily a bad quality. On its own, the more predictable horror aspects might not be enjoyable to some viewers. But I found that adding the aspect of Gen Z culture and humor to it added a unique touch to these classic tropes. 

Overall Bodies Bodies Bodies is a hilariously horrifying movie that has both the classics and modern aspects which provides a refreshing mix of nostalgia and relatability to its young audience. It is an honorable modern day horror movie that I will look back on fondly.

Grade: A

Info

Rating: R

Company: A24

Availability: Available on Netflix

Runtime: 1h 35m