It has certainly been a spooky year for A24, and we aren’t even in the spooky season yet. X and Men were fairly enjoyable, and we’re even getting a prequel to X coming this September. But before that, we have Bodies Bodies Bodies, a horror movie young millenials and Gen Z will relate to, considering its filled with alcohol, hard drugs, and overanalyzing every little goddamn thing. The film sticks 7 friends, and I use that term incredibly loosely, inside a pitch-black mansion during a terrible storm. A seemingly harmless game of Bodies Bodies Bodies, which is basically live-action Among Us, turns into whodunnit as the young adults soon begin dying one by one.

Not the most original of ideas, but what I liked the most about this film is its modernization of how classic horror films used to portray their slasher fodder, young, dumb, and completely oblivious to the rules of horror movies. Just like their predecessors, the characters here continually make things worse for themselves by splitting up, misreading situations, and getting absolutely plastered out of their minds. It’s a good balance that allows the characters to be pretty terrible people but still a lot of fun to watch. You’ll see a lot of character tropes that aren’t necessarily familiar to horror itself, but the most recent generation. You know, your party animals, your podcasters, and that one girl who brings around her boyfriend that’s twice their age. It does border on parody most of the time with their Twitter and liberal arts vernacular, but I think because we haven’t been completely overexposed to the Gen Z style as of yet, it hasn’t grown particularly grating. For me, Rachel Sennott and Pete Davidson were absolutely the standouts here, while Maria Bakalova feels underutilized as a lead despite giving a decent performance. 

I was kind of surprised to see this film be more of a slower paced sneak through the dark house rather than a straight forward slasher. There aren’t all that many scares and the gore is fairly tame, with most of the kills, as you might expect, happen off screen. The film relies a lot more on the tension of being lost in the dark, colored by an assortment of glow sticks, bracelets and iPhone flashlights. Utilizing natural lighting is certainly amicable and gives the film a natural and believable atmosphere. The setting of the mansion is definitely tried and true, but the story doesn’t always fully utilize a setting like this and is even sometimes hindered by it. 

The story does a decent job of subverting expectations and playing against what you’re used to seeing in the horror genre, and even though I guessed the ending fairly early on, I think it works pretty well for this kind of story. I don’t want to spoil it, but it is pretty funny. The film’s sense of humor is certainly what carries the film, being wholly self-aware even if its not offering any real analysis on Gen Z culture outside of their love for buzzwords. Yet it helps carry the film through the occasional slow and repetitive story beats.

Bodie Bodies Bodies is a lot of fun whether or not you were born in the TikTok era as it offers both relatability and satire so everyone can enjoy it. It’s not entirely successful in flipping the genre on its head as its setting and story play by the rules for the most part. It’s a good laugh, a short watch, and a potential fun new drinking game if you can secure a big enough building. Just…maybe try to play with people you actually like.

Rating

Libra Moon

It seems like Gen Z has 2 criteria for their cocktails: It’s gotta look cute, and it’s gotta get you drunk without tasting much of the alcohol. So I’ve tapped back into my college mindset, back when believe it or not, I hated drinking, to create this concoction. Basically for this drink I wanted to make something that would probably appeal to the younger generation and make a simple and delicious party drink. I’ve opted to use tequila, because nothing turns a night on its head quite like it. The drink is flavored with watermelon, raspberry and grenadine to give it a nice neon pink appearance, and it’s topped with champagne, which plays a significant role in the movie. Watch it, and you’ll find out soon enough.

Ingredients

• 2oz silver tequila
• 3/4oz watermelon liqueur
• 1/4oz raspberry liqueur
• 3/4oz lime juice
• 1/4oz grenadine
• Rim: Sugar
• Top: Champagne
• Garnish: Lime wedge
• Decoration: Glow sticks

Instructions

1. Before making the drink, rim a rocks glass with a lime wedge and coat the rim with sugar.
2. Add ingredients to shaker and shake with ice.
3. Strain over ice into rocks glass.
4. Top with champagne.
5. Garnish with lime wedge and glow sticks.