“Who wants to play Bodies Bodies Bodies” says Amandla Stenberg’s character Sophie to the room full of her best friends. And thus the murder mystery madness begins.
There’s a storm on its way to a group of rich twenty something year olds in their isolated mansion when they decide to play the murderous game Bodies Bodies Bodies. The game within the film involves each player drawing a card and the one with the X on their card is ‘the killer’ who has to ‘kill’ as many of the other players as possible in the dark by tapping them before anyone works out who the killer is.
After beginning every round with each player being slapped in the face for reasons that never quite get explained, the game starts off all okay. However it’s only when Pete Davidson’s David is found dead on the floor with his throat slit and blood all over him that they begin to realise that there might actually be a real killer among them.
It’s not really that much of a tragedy to see Pete Davidson dead and not to have to endure his horribly insufferable persona but as the rest of the bodies start to drop and the deadly storm approaches, everyone’s survival is on the line.
Now that Davidson is out the way, the entire ensemble cast are fantastic. Maria Bakalova and Rachel Sennott covered in fluorescent glow sticks are both excellent and really channel everything into their characters. This really helps bring the humour to Bodies Bodies Bodies. And it is full of comedy.
It’s exactly what you’d expect from a Gen-Z horror/comedy/satire with words like toxic, gaslighting and triggering being flung about like there’s no tomorrow and whilst sometimes this can be a little cringe-inducing, for the most part, the comedy all lands and is pretty funny.
Bodies Bodies Bodies is an effective comedy, but it also works really well as a horror film too. The scares are all very present and whilst the first half tends to rely more on jump scares, by the time you reach the second half of the film, and the tense atmosphere is fully built up, that’s when the scares really start to come out.
The pacing of the film helps keep you on the edge of your seat too because as we start to reach the point when you’re expecting some big reveals towards the end of the film, Bodies Bodies Bodies keeps you waiting just a little bit longer. You’re sat there ready to know who the murderer is, and the film makes you wait just that little bit more to find out the truth of everything.
Seeing the cast, all covered in blood, roaming around a dark mansion lit only by the torches on their phones and not knowing what’s about to come around the corner in front of them is really chilling stuff. And just when you think you know who the murderer is the film goes and kills them twenty seconds later.
Bodies Bodies Bodies is smart, witty and an absolute blast to watch.
Bodies Bodies Bodies is released in UK cinemas on September 9th
DIRECTOR: Halina Reijn
STARS: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, Pete Davidson
RUNTIME: 94 minutes
COUNTRY: U.S.A
Film Rating: 
