Gen Z Frenzy

Movie: Bodies Bodies Bodies

Mild spoilers, but nothing big spoiled in this review

Directed by Halina Reijin, written by Sarah DeLappe, and based on the story by Kristen Roupenian (the woman who wrote the infamous "Cat Person" short story, and also wrote a delightfully fucked up short story collection You Know You Want This), Bodies Bodies Bodies is one of the best movies I've seen so far in 2022. It's hilarious, it's tense, it pokes fun of Gen Z but not in a cringey way. It also pokes fun at rich people (always a cool thing to do) and the human condition in general.

A group of friends in their early 20s gather at what can only be described as a "mansion" for a hurricane party. The mansion belongs to David's (Pete Davidson) father. In addition to David, there is David's girlfriend, Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), Jordan (Myha'la Herrold), Alice (Rachel Sennott), and 40-something Greg (Lee Pace), a guy Alice met on Tinder a few weeks ago. Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) also shows up with her girlfriend of 6 weeks, Bee (Maria Bakalova). Very quickly, we learn that Sophie is the "prodigal friend"--she went to rehab and dropped off the face of the earth. She did not tell anyone she planned to come to this party and certainly didn't tell anyone she was bringing a girlfriend.

Part of the fun of this film is figuring out the friend dynamics at play here. In addition to the drama around Sophie, David and Emma have serious drama since a friend who is not present, Max, confessed his love for Emma in front of David. David also doesn't like Greg and feels threatened by Greg's "coolness" (how cool is a guy in his 40s hanging out with a bunch of barely legal adults anyway?) and looks. Right from the get-go the audience is aware of seething resentments, ever-shifting rivalries, and snark dressed up as humor. 

After doing a million shots and recording some TikTok dances (Gen Z!), the group decides to play Bodies Bodies Bodies, more commonly known as Mafia or Werewolf. They draw slips of paper and the one who gets the paper with a marking on it is the killer. They turn off the lights and the killer touches people on the back to "kill" them, and every time someone finds a body, the group gathers together and tries to decide who the killer is. Within one round of the game, people are crying and accusing others of "gaslighting" them (Gen Z!).

I won't spoil who it is, but you can probably guess that during the course of events, someone actually dies. Unfortunately, the power has gone out, including the WiFi, so they can't call 911. The one car available to the group has a dead battery and, besides, they're in the middle of a damn hurricane. So they gather back inside, terrified that the killer might still be among them...and predictably descend into paranoia and accusations.

Bodies Bodies Bodies combines the classic "locked room mystery" genre with the age-old trope of "people in a desperate situation turn on each other instantly" and adds the more modern phenomenon of using the language of mental health and abuse to accuse others and to excuse one's own bad behavior. This is made obvious in the trailer for the movie with scenes of the friends accusing each other of "being toxic", "triggering me", "gaslighting me", etc. I saw this movie with a friend of mine (also a Millennial) who teaches college students and confirms that there is a bit of a trend of younger people using mental health as an excuse to refuse to hear constructive feedback.

I just want to pause for a moment and say that this is not just a Gen Z thing and, as we know, the idea of generations being solid, distinct groups of people who behave in distinct and similar ways is not accurate. The trend of using the language of mental illness and abuse as a way of avoiding owning one's own bullshit is really just the most recent trend in human beings being assholes. Humans have always been assholes just trying to weasel their way out of consequences and avoid anything that might deflate their egos the tiniest bit. 

So, Bodies Bodies Bodies is making a little bit of fun at Gen Z's expense, but really it's mostly making fun of selfish, self-centered people who have never had to face significant consequences for their actions, mostly because they're all very rich. The other thing I like about this movie is that they immediately call each other out when they do this. So Emma accuses David of "gaslighting" her and David responds by telling her that the term "gaslighting" is so overused as to be meaningless. Later, when someone calls someone else a "psychopath" and another person says "that's so ableist", the first person sharply retorts "fuck off and die", earning a belly laugh from me. The absurdity of (highly questionable) accusations of ableism in a life or death situation or using a term like "triggering" when one literally has a weapon in one's face is part of the humor of Bodies Bodies Bodies. 

And even though the first half of the movie is much funnier than the second half, the humor remains throughout the film and even in its darkest moments. Likewise, the film manages to be incredibly tense and high stakes, especially for a comedy. 

Bodies Bodies Bodies will be especially fun for people who don't mind "unlikeable" characters and very dark humor. This is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't want you to either. Perhaps it's the Millennial in me who enjoys finding the humor in nihilism--I mean, people are so absurd, you just gotta laugh sometimes, right?

Filled with really good acting, tons of laughs, and nail-biting tension, Bodies Bodies Bodies is a must-see. 

Grade: A-