‘Bodies’ an entertaining, suspenseful satire

In the latest horror satire from acclaimed studio A24, ‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ centers on a group of 20-somethings who get stuck at a remote mansion during a hurricane.

A party game ends up going very, very wrong as the game ends with a dead body on the ground and fake friends at every turn as they try to find the killer among them.

‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ is a horror comedy that does a good job delivering both the laughs and the scares. The movie does a decent job finding the perfect balance of the horror and comedy genres.

While watching the movie, it almost reminded me a little bit of the first ‘Scream’ movie. That 1996 slash-horror satire also found the right balance between the genres, just like this movie. ‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ is a fairly entertaining satire that also pokes fun of Gen Z. And, don’t worry … I’ll be getting to the scares in just a moment. There are plenty of segments in this movie that can be very humorous.

Pete Davidson, the former stand-out performer of ‘SNL,’ has been slowly stepping into the film industry and appearing in some movies. I honestly have only seen some of his stuff on the NBC sketch comedy and nothing else. And, in this movie, he does a fairly decent job.

When the thrills start up majorly in the second half of the movie, it can get rather interesting. There is actually a good amount of suspense scattered throughout and the ending is really unexpected. The only things that could have worked a little better is maybe add a few more tense unpredictable scares and pick up the pace in a couple moments. There are a few parts that can be a little slow-moving, but only just a few.

Overall, the horror satire will keep you entertained for the most part. It attempts to be this generation’s ‘Scream’ (since it’s a satire) and it works. Also, the humor is great at times and make sure to catch up on some terms and lingo that the new generation (Gen Z) uses today since you hear quite a bit of it in the movie.

The cast includes: Amandla Stenberg as Sophie; Marla Bakalova as Bee; Rachel Sennott as Alice; Chase Sul Wonders as Emma; Pete Davidson as David; Myha’la Herrold as Jordan; Lee Pace as Greg and Conner O’Malley as Max.

‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ is written by Sarah DeLappe (in her screen-writing debut) and Halina Reijn (her feature length Hollywood debut).

In March 2018, small studio A24 acquired a spec script of the movie originally written by writer Kristen Roupenian. After some more development, a new writer was brought in to make changes and Roupenian ended up with a story credit. Principal photography for the movie began in May 2021.

The satire premiered at South by Southwest (a film festival) in March 2022. It was initially released on Aug. 5 in select cities, before a nationwide expansion on Aug. 12.

‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ is rated R for violence, bloody images, drug use, sexual references and pervasive language and has a running time of 94 minutes.

If you saw the movie, tell me what you thought of the latest horror satire. Let me know on Facebook through my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page and make sure to keep on checking to see what I will be checking out next. And, soon I will be picking out my selections for the upcoming Fall Film Festival.