Movie Review #1: Bodies, Bodies, Bodies
My sister convinced me to watch Bodies, Bodies, Bodies…and let’s just say I have some thoughts.
“That looks exhausting.”
That was my first thought as I watched five twenty-somethings (and Lee Pace) have a hurricane party. There was just so much jumping and sweating.
🚨Spoilers ahead!🚨
Bodies is a movie about six friends who decide to have a party to wait out a hurricane in an upstate New York mansion. Immediately I asked myself, “why are any of these people friends?”. All of them had at least one grudge against a member of the group and sarcasm was the language of choice. When one of the characters, Sofia, starts to feel uncomfortable (because she’s being called out for some of her unhealthy characteristics), she makes the only obvious suggestion… to play a game called Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (think mafia or werewolf). One person is supposed to be the “killer” and tag people in the pitch black house. But things get unhinged when David (Pete Davidson) actually dies.
Included in this scene is an inexplicable drinking game where they all just slap the crap out of each other. Literally no explanation at all.
The premise is actually kind of fun. A murder mystery taking place in modern day with a cast of young, up-and-coming actors. Along with Stenberg and Davidson, the cast also includes Rachel Sennott (Alice), Maria Bakalova (Bee), Myha’la (Jordan), Chase Sui Wonders (Emma), and Lee Pace (Greg).
The one thing I will say about this movie is that the cast is fantastic in their roles. I’m gonna be honest, I’m not a Pete Davidson fan. His humor doesn’t tend to land for me. So I was immediately hesitant. But he did a good job playing the role of an entitled, rich, white guy who believes he deserves to be liked and that people who don’t think he’s cool are objectively wrong.
Rachel Sennott was the highlight for me. Her comedic timing was perfect. And because of her experience in stand-up, she was able to come in and improv some of the most memorable lines of the movie. When she drops the “I’m an ally” line, it’s lands so well because she’s taking the time to point out that she’s not racist when there’s all this murder all around her.
What tipped me off to the fact that I wasn’t the audience for this movie was when I realized Lee Pace’s character Greg, a man in his forties, dating a girl in her twenties (Sennott), who gave off super creepy vibes, felt like the most logical character.
Director Halina Reijn said she wanted the movie to be so fast-paced that it did not give time for the characters to think logically. But I feel like that hurt the movie. At any point if the characters had just had a simple conversation, everything could have been avoided. But instead, as soon as David died, everyone besides Alice decided that Greg had to have done it. No evidence besides the fact that they didn’t know him. They find Greg sleep in the indoor basketball court of this insane mansion with a light mask on, pretty clearly having been nowhere near the murder. But instead of hearing him out, they all kill him.
And this goes on and on until only Sophia and Bee are left. The movie started with the two of them coming into this party as outsiders. Sophia had recently spent some time in rehab and the group was surprised when she showed up to the party. Bee is her girlfriend whom the rest of the group has never met. She’s nervous about wanting to fit in and seemingly doesn’t come from the same extravagant lifestyle as the rest of them.
By the end of the movie, it’s been revealed that Sophia had recently cheated on Bee with Jordan (Myha’la). They completely stop worrying about all the murder that just took place and instead were fixated on figuring out if Sophia did or did not cheat.
The movie ended leaving me confused about the message. There were hints at calling out toxic masculinity. At times it pointed out the problems of influencer culture. But the message was jumbled and I wanted it to lean harder into these themes. It seemed to make fun of gen z more than it needed to. Not to mention there was literally no murderer! Pete Davidson ended up having killed himself trying to film a TikTok with a machete…
The acting saved this movie for me to the point where I would still recommend it in order to for people to be exposed to this cast. But the story is absolutely bananas.
I know a lot of people loved this movie, which I’m actually happy about. Just cause I’m not the audience, doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie!
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave me a comment if you’ve seen it!