A lip close-up is the first we see of Sophie (played by Amandla Stenberg) and Bee, her girlfriend of six weeks (Maria Bakalova). Seemingly pulled from the pages of a fairy tale, Sophie confesses her love for Bee as they stand in a green meadow surrounded by nature. Within seconds, that affectionate scene gives way to a photo of the two engrossed in their phones as choppy ringtones and notifications dry up any vestige of intimacy or passion.
These juxtaposed moments in the satirical new slasher “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies” ridicule her Gen Z characters’ inability to make meaningful connections when a blinding screen forms a glaring barrier: “Sophie expects Bee realizes this level of intense vulnerability, even though she may not have earned it,” Stenberg explained in a video call, “and I think that’s something we now expect from everyone. because we all carry vulnerability on the internet.
It’s one of the many ways the film — about a group of privileged, internet-hungry 20-somethings stranded at a house party — attempts to paint a portrait of the generation born a few years before and after the millennium. Using humor, horror tropes and a cast of young stars, the film forces its characters to consider their non-digital identities and pokes fun at their symbiotic relationship with cellphones, their trauma-based lingo and of the despotic force of the group chat.
As a director Halina Reijn said in a video call, “when the Wi-Fi goes out, it’s like they’re losing oxygen.”
Shortly after arriving at the secluded mansion, Sophie, Bee and their friends play Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, a board game involving a mysterious killer that players must identify and vote on every turn. But when the power goes out in the middle of a hurricane, real bodies start falling. Character behavior becomes bestial, Reijn said, and they forget how to respond to a crisis disconnected from the digital world.
“We can totally live in the face of death and still talk about things that are so unimportant but are so important to us,” Reijn said, adding, “I find it funny and tragic, of course, at the same time. “
Stenberg, the star of “The Hate U Give” and upcoming “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” served as executive producer on the film and drew on her own experience of digital life. She said screenwriter Sarah DeLappe (a playwright known for “The Wolves”) worked the script so wittily that the moments of hypocrisy and sentimentality became easy to craft. “The point isn’t to say Gen Z aren’t smart or sophisticated, but rather to provide a commentary on the absurdity of the circumstances,” Stenberg said. (DeLappe was unavailable for comment.)
Among those moments, the revelers, friends since childhood, playfully film TikToks to Tyga-Curtis Roach’s anthem “Bored in the House” and rave about social media likes.
Gen Zers rely heavily on digital spaces for self-expression, community building and information gathering, Stenberg noted, but also face a sense of cognitive dissonance as they try to stay present in the world. virtual life and reality. Indeed, said Sarah Bishop, professor of communication studies at Baruch College, “for them to be able to defamiliarize themselves with or step back from this massive presence in their lives is asking them to do something impossible, not is this not? It would be like asking them to imagine living without solid food.
Alice, played by Rachel Sennott (“Shiva Baby”), invites her 40-year-old Tinder match, Greg (Lee Pace), to the house party. In Reijn’s view, Greg serves as a bridge for older viewers: he tries to learn the rules of the game but uses sporting analogies that a father might use, such as “the best defense is a good offense”, and simply baffles the young crew. For Reijn, who at 46 is a Gen Xer, Greg represented his personal detachment from Gen Z. “That goes, of course, with every generation that gets older, you always kind of lose touch,” he said. she declared.
Still, Reijn wanted the film to be real and honest but also funny, as each character shared the overriding need to belong when online usage swallows self-awareness.
“I think we live in a time where we’re all very narcissistic, because we’re in front of the camera all the time,” she said. “Right now we are constantly aware of our appearance and that is, of course, unprecedented, isn’t it? Normally it was just actors or musicians and now it’s all of us.
Despite the physical danger each character faces, their virtual realities remain central to the plot. As the drunk and stoned lifelong friends try to figure out who the killer is in the game, Emma (Chase Sui Wonders) exclaims that her boyfriend, David (Pete Davidson), is gaslighting her. David’s response: The word doesn’t make sense, and all she did was read the internet. Be more original.
With the use of trauma-centric jargon like “gas lamp,” “trigger,” “toxic” and “narcissistic,” overuse can cheapen the language’s original value, Wonders said.
“I think Gen Z has a brilliant, brilliant way of hanging on to words, giving them such beautiful meaning, and having it spread like wildfire across cultures,” she said. , “and then to swallow it up through irony.”
Viewers can’t help but laugh at the friends’ misery as they stab each other emotionally. Sophie erupts about the double standard between black and white drug addicts, but rather than admit the disparity, Alice replies, “I’m an ally.” Or when Jordan (Myha’la Herrold) asks Sophie about the group chat ghost, she responds, “You trigger me.” Herrold, who said it was his favorite scene, said the cast spent late hours editing and rewriting the footage to ensure it remained relatable.
“A lot of the Gen Z language, ‘gaslight’ and all that, some of it got cut out and we were like, ‘No, it has to stay here,'” Herrold said.
‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ is one of many A24 films attempting to capture a generation – think ‘Spring Breakers’ and ‘Lady Bird’ before it – this time to the tune of Charli XCX’s ‘Hot Girl’ , embodying post selfishness, answer and repeat.
This includes group chats. Comparable to the cliques at a high school lunch table, the chat dictates who is in and out of the group of friends. These discussions have political meanings, Stenberg said, and when Sophie wanders into the party without properly informing the discussion beforehand, the house becomes hostile.
“I’ve been in friend groups before where it’s a big deal if someone gets removed from the group chat or someone gets added,” she said, “and that’s this horrible, toxic thing where someone’s presence can be physically determined.”
From digital media addictions to engaging group chats, Stenberg said, “Bodies Bodies Bodies” isn’t about casting social media as the villain but the mirror in all of us.
“We need to think carefully and intentionally about how these tools can bring out and amplify the parts of us that are the scariest,” she said.
