Hurricane parties aren’t for the faint of heart. They’re also not for fake best friends sitting on lies & trust issues, dripping with toxicity. This is a dirty, sexy WHO-DUNNIT that feels like Euphoria mixed with the manic of Uncut Gems and the camp of Scream.
Some of Gen-Z’s worst and richest throw a Hurricane party that tragically ends before it really begins. A group of longtime so-called friends try to reconcile the return of one of their own. Despite their not-so best efforts, a child’s game heightens the rising tension and spills blood between them. The night becomes a mystery of comedy and mania as they uncover the truth of who they are to each other and to themselves while finding a supposed killer on the loose.
Halina Reijn bottles up the crazy in a single wet location of lies and mistrust with, possibly, the sexiest cast of 2022. This sharply written and brilliantly performed thriller gets everything right while making us fall for characters who are horribly wrong. But horribly written they are not. While these characters look very different from the teens we grew up with on screen, don’t be fooled by their nonsense hang-ups and unhealthy behaviors. There isn’t a likable character amongst them, and that’s ok. Will it be an obstacle for some audiences to overcome? Sure. But getting past that leaves room for the great work coming from some of the best young actors Hollywood has to offer.
Maria Bakalova is good. Amandla Stenberg, fierce. Myha’la Herrold, dastardly. Pete Davidson… is Pete Davidson. Lee Pace is not young. And Rachel Sennot STEALS THE SHOW, quickly becoming the stand out performance of the year.
Teen comedies come few and far in between. Making them work isn’t a tall task, but generational differences can keep some audiences detached. I believe Bodies Bodies Bodies successfully rides the line between campiness, pettiness, and hilarity to make this an unconventional slasher of irreverent proportion!
9/10
