Bodies Bodies Bodies Delivers Delivers Delivers
The year 2022 has been filled with many horror releases. While that may seem like a win for fans of the genre, it has felt like it's been filled with quantity over quality. With most of the year's horror films feeling uninspired, dull, and overall trying to mimic previous, better, films, Bodies Bodies Bodies put a fresh spin on the genre. The film takes a less traditional horror route by fusing its horror with comedy. This pairing of horror and comedy often doesn’t work well, either having the comedy overshadow the horror or vice-versa. Director Halina Reijn, however, perfectly crafted the two together.
When it comes to comedies, having the right cast is crucial. Going into the movie, audiences are likely familiar with comedians such as Pete Davidson and Rachel Sonnet. However, the entire cast helps to deliver the solid horror comedy that unfolds. The comedy is heavily centered around who the characters are. The film does a good job of showcasing how these characters are brought up in a place of privilege. Besides the fact that the whole film takes place in a mansion, each interaction between the characters strengthens the audience's understanding of their worldview. They discuss their parents' positions of financial power while also seemingly not realizing how much of an advantage that leaves them. The writers also heavily utilize comedy to make the characters address these ideas. Their reactions to the unfolding situation, while humorous, may seem exaggerated to some audiences. However, I find this to be the most realistic part of their characters. On the surface, they may seem like caricatures of generation x, but it's really just holding a mirror to who these characters really are. Born into a world where they have no wants, survival becomes their only need.
The quality of the acting brings out a great liveliness to the film and keeps it incredibly fun to watch throughout, but the directing is what really sells it as a horror film. With most of the film taking place in a dark mansion, it is easy to go the clichéd route of jumpscares 101. Reijn instead builds upon the relationship between the audience and characters and guides the viewer's along with them. As more bodies, bodies, bodies are found, the hunt for the killer grows ever scarier as the audience feels drawn in, as though they're one of the friends in the mansion.
As horror fans begin to reflect on 2022, they will surely appreciate Bodies Bodies Bodies as one of the few fresh takes on the genre. In a year cluttered with repeats, Reijn’s film ushers in a new style of horror, significant to our decade and standing out with its heavy comedic elements.
Writer: Sudarshan Sindhuvalli
Artist: Sophia Jusino
