From the sticky, slippery opening frames of “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” director Halina Reijn lets the audience know that we’re in for one silly-smart and deeply self-aware roller-coaster ride. This blackly comic horror riff is heavy on the social satire and sprinkled with scares, as Reijn, along with writers Sarah DaLappe and Kristen Roupenian (who contributed the screenplay and story, respectively), have intelligently pulled together and reinterpreted traditional horror tropes in order to send up the youth of today. The result is a horror film that’s a true triple threat: stunning, smart and wildly entertaining.
“They’re not as nihilistic as they seem on the internet,” Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) reassures her new girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova), en route to a “hurricane party” at the mansion of her childhood best friend David (Pete Davidson). Bee, with her quiet demeanor, accented English and humble, tomboyish clothing, is very different from Sophie and her longtime posse of outrageous rich kids. Sophie has her own sordid history with the group, and the tension among them bubbles, roiling to a boil throughout the long, bloody night that ensues.
Set within this coterie of chatty, privileged, quasi-sociopathic 20-somethings, “Bodies Bodies Bodies” is the Zoomer offspring of its Gen X parents “Scream” and “Shallow Grave.” It also follows certain folk horror tropes that have been mainstreamed in films like “Get Out.” Bee, a stranger in a strange land, makes her way into the inner sanctum of a closed, cult-like group, becoming intoxicated and inculcated to their rituals and mischief-making, in this case, a game called Bodies Bodies Bodies. The game draws out jealousy and long-simmering conflict, and escalates the toxic atmosphere, which is aided and abetted by the hurricane-induced power outage.
