As our generation reaches adulthood, films about young people are finally becoming accurate enough to spark productive discussions about modern life, rather than serving as hilarious examples of just how little Hollywood understands the internet.
One might expect that in representing ourselves we would strive to show qualities that are missing from previous mainstream depictions, which all have the patronizing air of a divorced boomer trying desperately to relate to his kids (likely because they’re all written by one). A notable example of new-wave internet cinema is Bo Burnham’s humanizing Eighth Grade, which rebuts the common belief that adolescent social media use is motivated by self-absorption — instead focusing on the loneliness and comfort that permeates our relationship to it.
Bodies Bodies Bodies is another one of those exciting new films that show a real understanding of Gen Z’s culture and language, almost to the point of ironic self-reflexivity. It feels oddly fitting that it uses this knowledge to regard the Internet Generation not with empathy, but with vicious, scathing contempt.
Equal parts horror and comedy, the film follows a group of rich twenty-somethings who are enjoying a druggy hurricane party in their mansion when one of them mysteriously dies during a drinking game. As the storm rages outside, they descend into a cacophony of murder and lies as they try to figure out who killed him.
The hurricane is not the only topical aspect of the film — the Among Us-inspired premise, the casting choices (Rachel Sennot, Pete Davidson, Borat 2’s Maria Bakalova), the soundtrack — it all feels as if it was manifested by Twitter’s collective consciousness.
Writer Sarah DeLappe prioritizes cultural commentary over scares, with much of the late-story intensity undercut by the insufferable protagonists as they bargain and argue with each other about allyship, star signs and how much money their parents make. The characters — whose entire identities are lifted from social media — share a vocabulary well-equipped for discussing each other’s faults, and for casting blame on each other throughout the night.
In one of my linguistics classes, we learned that the conventions of a language have a huge impact on the potential outcomes of interactions. Gaslight, toxic, fake — these are words that we’ve all used and eventually gotten sick of, but it’s hard to imagine that they haven’t rubbed off on us a little.
Perhaps DeLappe wanted to show that Gen Z’s uncompromising approach to blame is inherently inflammatory, and when used in a real-life situation, it will inevitably end in violence and duplicity.
Alternatively, it could just be a story about the moral degeneracy of vapid trust-fund babies.
Either way, it’s incredibly fun to watch the evening unfold — Bodies Bodies Bodies has cult-classic written all over it. In large part this is thanks to Sennot’s hysterical performance as the podcast host Alice, in which she embodies all the worst qualities of today’s influencer culture (between this and Shiva Baby, she has become one of my favourite comedic actors). The film has a wonderfully sardonic approach to its characters, and each new reveal is more exciting than the last.
That being said, it doesn’t work super well as a ‘scary movie’ — if you’re looking for something truly frightening this Halloween I wouldn’t go here… Notwithstanding the cosmic horror of Pete Davidson saying “I look like I fuck” while staring straight into the camera.
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