BODIES BODIES BODIES

Bodies Bodies Bodies is a film with an incredibly strong premise. A group of, for the most part, awful 20-somethings meet in a big house during the storm, and decide to play Bodies Bodies Bodies (or Murder in the Dark if you’re from the UK). Things take a dark turn as the game progresses and the bodies start to pile up.

For anyone unfamiliar with the game, one person in the group is the “murderer”. The lights are turned off and the murderer must try and pick off each member of the group by touching them on the back. If another player finds a body, they turn on the lights, alert the other players, and then try to work out who the murderer is. If they are successful they win, if not, the lights are turned back out and the game continues.

Anyone who has played the game for themselves will know what a great idea this is for a horror inflected whodunit, and while I left Bodies Bodies Bodies feeling as though it didn’t quite deliver on all the promises it makes, it is still, while it happens, an incredibly fun time.

We see the film through the eyes of newcomer Bee (Maria Bakalova). As she meets, and gets to know, this somewhat intolerable group, so do we, and this is an effective way of introducing us to each character and their relationships, or at least the relationships they want to present, to each other.

Bee is brought to the party by new girlfriend Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and from the start there are hints of something fractious underlying in the group.

We also have David (Pete Davidson), Sophies best friend, and whose family home the party is happening at, Emma (Chase Sui Wonders) David’s actor girlfriend, Jordan (Myha’la Herrold) whose beef with Sophie is apparent from the start, Alice (Rachel Sennott) a podcaster who appears to be the only one in the group genuinely happy to see Sophie and Bee arrive, and finally Greg (Lee Pace), Alice’s much older tinder date.

From the start of the film, even before the first death, potential motives and obvious tensions are clear.

The film is shot incredibly cleverly. The use of the blackout making the mansion they are staying in feel somehow claustrophobic, yet infinite. The idea that there is someone stalking the house, lurking in the darkness, picking off the guests one by one, as in the game they started out playing, feels increasingly real.

The decisions made by each of the characters, and the escalation that ensues because of them, feel believable which further adds to the authenticity of the situation. Again, anyone who has played the game themselves, will know that even if you are in a familiar environment, with people you trust, once the lights go out logic goes out the window, and Bodies Bodies Bodies feels like natural progression. 

Where the film didn’t quite work for me was in some of the social commentary, Throughout the film there is talk from characters of safe-spaces, gaslighting, being silenced (amongst others) and in these moments the cast teetered into caricature, and whatever the film was trying to say became muddled. While these terms are becoming part of our everyday vernacular, it felt like they were put in for an easy joke, rather than to make the characters seem more real and fleshed out.

This is even more disappointing when, outside of this, Bodies Bodies Bodies is funny. There are a number of laugh out loud moments. Pete Davidson and Rachel Sennott’s comedic history especially shine through. Davidson has obviously been around for a while, but this could serve to be a breakout role for Sennott, giving her an opportunity to really showcase her talents.

Its climax is also interesting. Naturally I won’t go into any details here, but my immediate reaction to it was onto feel somewhat overwhelmed. Having slept on it, however, I have started to come around to it more and more, and would be interested to hear other peoples thoughts on it

Overall, Bodies Bodies Bodies is an excellent premise which very nearly translates into an excellent film. It is let down a little by some of its dialogue, but overall, it is a welcome addition to the resurgent whodunit genre.