Before viewing Halina Reijn’s Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, I purposefully tried to read as little as possible about the film so I could watch it with no spoilers as horror reviews often give a few away. In the broader spectrum of horror, I wasn’t sure where the movie would land; some early indications indicated more comedic hints while some hinted at an escalating slasher picture. I would say this fits solidly in the comedy horror group, but it’s on the darker side. There are plenty of laughs to be had in this film but none of them are shared with the characters.
From the first frame to the last we stick with the co-leads of this film, Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and Bee (Maria Bakalova), a burgeoning couple in the throes of love who at Sophie’s insistence join a party of her old childhood friends at one’s luxurious mansion on the precipice of a major hurricane. Sophie is fresh out of rehab and there’s tension in the air as soon as she bubbly greets her old friends poolside; it’s never stated during this initial interaction but it’s clear from everyone’s looks that her and Bee were not explicitly invited or wanted here. Bee is examined and inspected cautiously by the group as they regard Sophie with suspicion and annoyance.
Bee isn’t the only outsider to the party, though, as Greg (Lee Pace), Alice’s (Rachel Sennott) older, hippy boyfriend, is also treated to some hostility from the group. Lines are drawn from the minute everyone walks in the door, with an “us versus them” mentality that only further ramps up as the film continues. Part of the division is due to the interiority of the friend group who have a long history with each other. Although everyone is over eighteen and out of high school, there’s something about their cliqueness that echoes the hallways of a prep school. They bicker, scrap, reveal secrets, and embarrass each other all in one lightning-fast back-and-forth exchange. There’s a comfort they all have and a mutual viciousness too, and the romantic partners who are brought into it all don’t mix well.
Another point of separation between the core friends and Bee and Greg is unmistakably wealth. There’s a level of financial shelter that permeates their views of the world. While Bee ogles at the mansion, the others traipse through it as though it’s nothing. They’ve seen it all before and they note the otherness she feels in this place and hone in on it. Greg’s age makes him stand out, but it’s more than that — when others voice their aversion to him there’s an underlayer to it. Similar to Bee, he is an unknown, and since both don’t run in the same social or economic groups as the others, they are further ostracized.
The group’s arrested development seems to be tied to their wealth. Families are financial support and so the only times they are referenced is in connection to their assets: champagne, swords, houses. Very few people talk about individual career success or careers at all, everything they talk about is in reference to hobbies or memories. Adulthood isn’t defined by a clear delineation of responsibility, it’s simply a continuation of what they were doing when they were younger. In contrast to them, Bee seems like more of an adult, with a job and a relationship with her mother that relies on continued communication. Maybe that’s why Sophie’s friend, Jordan (Myha’la Herrold) in particular, seems to bristle against her presence: with all of their privilege and opportunity they still haven’t been able to do something she was able to do with less resources.
Sophie suggests playing an old game to loosen everyone up a bit more once they are forced inside by the hurricane. As the games begin and the claws come out, the group starts to tear into each other. Sophie’s addictions are tested as the night wears on, and people begin to question her past behavior as well as her distance from the group following her stint in a rehabilitation program. Along with her past demons, more is revealed about the others along the way, and soon Bee becomes a part of it, too. We see glimpses of Sophie’s former self and the road to recovery she paved, but it becomes murkier and harder to define what road she’s trying to build next. Bee is the antithesis of this world she used to live in so is she fighting to break from the group or does she want to be together with her friends and to go back to her old ways sans the drug reliance? Why come to this party and open that door once more?
During an outburst, she talks about how badly all of them trigger her, which is why she kept her distance after treatment, but that doesn’t quite ring true. She wasn’t invited to this event and yet she came; no one wanted her to be there and yet she stayed. She may have kicked one addiction, but it becomes clearer the more we understand her that this group is a bit of an addiction to her as well. In fact, they are all addicted to each other, into keeping this amalgam of people together. Memories are recollected throughout the night, not to give context or even to provide background for Bee or Greg, but they are instead used as tools to keep the tenets of the group intact. They are meant to exclude to enforce a boundary, to make those inside of these friendships feel like they share a special bond. A story is retold or referenced and it pushes the friends off on their own island of shared memory and pushes newcomers further and further away. Memory, push, memory, push. Sophie isn’t immune to the allure of it and as much as she tries to stay above it all, she fits back in smoothly.
In the beginning of the film, it feels like the only person Bee truly knows is Sophie, but by the end even that is in question. The conclusion gives us a delicious twist to this night of terror and a great reveal to the circumstances of the first death. All in all, this was a great film to kick off the spooky season and I’d highly recommend giving it a watch.
Bodies Bodies Bodies will be screened at IU Cinema on October 21 at 10 pm as part of the Friday Night Frights series.
Noni Ford is a freelance writer based in the Midwest and a graduate of the Indiana University Media School. She’s worked in voice coordination, independent film, and literary management, and primarily writes film criticism and short stories.