When people try to make movies targeted toward Gen-Z, it usually doesn’t work. The references are way overdone, the outfits are clearly influenced by months-old fads, the music choices don’t make any sense and nobody (really, nobody) finds any of the jokes funny. Yet somehow, when Sarah DeLappe sat down to write the screenplay for what would become “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” she checked all of the right boxes. 

“Bodies Bodies Bodies” is technically considered a horror movie, but I would argue that it’s more of a comedy than it is a horror movie. The story starts by introducing Sophie and Bee, a couple from intensely different backgrounds. Bee is an elusive, working-class Eastern European immigrant, whereas Sophie is a wildly wealthy recovering drug addict. Still, Sophie and Bee appear to be deeply infatuated with each other as they head to Sophie’s best friend David’s “hurricane party,” where her other long-time friends will be in attendance. These friends include David’s girlfriend and aspiring actress Emma, podcaster Alice, who can really only be described as the ultimate instigator, Alice’s older boyfriend Greg and Jordan, who doesn’t seem to enjoy being around her friends but is in attendance nevertheless. 

From the moment Sophie and Bee arrive at David’s home, the tension within the group is already sky-high. Sophie has allegedly been virtually nonexistent in any of their lives, but before the accusations can start rolling in too fast, the group gets to partying. After doing their fair share of drinking, dancing and drugs, they settle in to play the murder party game “Bodies Bodies Bodies.” However, not long after the game has begun, Bee discovers David’s body, bloodied and choking. From there on out, the group begins to unravel, one by one. 

“Bodies Bodies Bodies” is, if I can be blunt, stupid. The characters are aggravating to the point where you need to turn away at moments. The plot is simplistic yet somehow headache-inducingly chaotic. Even the audial experience is annoying; every scene is an earful of either screaming or blasting music. But this movie’s ability to just completely exasperate the watcher is precisely what makes it so brilliant. 

The sheer unlikeability of every single character in this movie is astounding. Each one of them is so blindingly self-absorbed in their own issues and their own lives, and while it may be annoying to watch, it fuels the plot. They are the makers of their own undoing, as the increasingly petty arguments between them end up driving more and more nails into the coffin of their friend group. The performance that stands out the most is Rachel Sennott as Alice. Sennott is absolutely hilarious and as a result, she’s responsible for the best lines and moments of the movie. Her humor is undiluted, her thoughts are completely unfiltered, and—perhaps the most hilarious part of her performance—her facial expressions are on point with every outrageous thing she or another character says. 

Similarly, the chaos of the plot is exactly what keeps you interested. The plot has a more complex psyche behind it—it’s meant to show a friend group unraveling externally because of each member’s internal unraveling. The movie is built on a decently complicated and intriguing idea, but the execution is far from what you’d expect. The unraveling of this particular friend group is messy, it’s loud and it’s full of petty arguments and stupid accusations. But it captures the essence of a Gen-Z friendship perfectly. As the group continues its foreboding deterioration, you have to take a pause and just acknowledge how relatable the whole situation is. The outlandish insults, the slang words that would probably kill your parents to try to decipher—they all feel authentic. 

“Bodies Bodies Bodies” might be an audial nightmare with an infuriating cast of characters, but there is something so undeniably enticing about it. No matter how much you want to just hate this movie, you can’t. This movie is an outrageous melting pot of a thousand clunky plot points and screaming 20-year-olds playing teenagers, but somehow, it still hits the spot.

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from MUSE.