‘Ridiculously fun' horror-comedy now available to watch on BBC iPlayer
A24's Bodies Bodies Bodies, one of the best horror-comedy movies of the last decade, is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer and will be broadcast on BBC Three on Tuesday night (20 May).
The film, directed by Halina Reijn and written by 'Cat Person' author Kristen Roupenian, follows a group of friends at a party. The fun takes a turn for the worse when a game of 'murder-in-the-dark' ends with a real-life death, forcing the friends to find out who is responsible.
The 2022 film features an impressive cast including SNL alum Pete Davidson, Shiva Baby's Rachel Sennott, Industry's Myha-la Herrold, Borat's Maria Bakalova, The Studio's Chase Sui Wonders and Guardians of the Galaxy star Lee Pace.
Bakalova plays the film's closest thing to a hero in the form of Bee, a timid foreigner accompanying her new girlfriend Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) to the party.
Speaking to The Independent in September 2022, she said: 'As much as it's a timeless story about human behaviour, it's pretty much capturing generations like mine and a little bit older than mine. Not that much of my mom's generation or her mom's generation.'
Upon release, fans on social media praised the film, calling it a 'ridiculously fun, sharp, dark-comedy thriller that just explodes from the seams with vision'.
'As a connoisseur of slasher films, great writing, and the best performers Gen-Z has to offer, this film is right up my alley,' said a second person.
A third fan added: 'Everyone is very hot/hilarious/horny, love a 90-minute movie. Def more comedy than horror but doesn't suffer for it in my opinion.'
In a four-star review for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey called the film 'peak nihilistic entertainment, watching these souls try, in vain, to keep their fragile reputations in tact while they're drenched head to toe in blood.'
Elsewhere, Edward Porter for The Times said the film 'crackles with life' and features 'a caustic script, a stormy atmosphere and a talented cast.'
Katherine McLaughlin for SciFiNow writes: 'Reijn's finely orchestrated ambience of frenzy and tension is a blast to watch, and the game performances, particularly from the young ensemble cast of female actors as they savagely jump at each other's throats, deliciously ups the ante.'
The film is currently available to watch on iPlayer and will be available until Sunday 15 June. Alternatively, the film can be watched tonight (20 May) at 10pm on BBC Three.
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As for the impressive flight sequences, in which Hiccup rides Toothless, the production created an animatronic dragon placed on a giant gimbal that moved on six different axes to simulate the physics of flying. 'If the dragon was diving or ascending or banking and rolling, Mason would be thrown around in the saddle, like a jockey on a racehorse,' says DeBlois. 'And it married him to the animal in a way that felt really authentic.' For all his success in the animated realm, DeBlois has never directed a live-action film until now. 'I do commend Universal for taking a risk on me knowing that I had not made a live-action film, but also recognizing that I knew where the heart and the wonder was, and I was determined to bring it to the screen,' he says. Otto, the designer who trained Toothless before anybody else, candidly says he would have 'peed his pants' if he knew the drawings he did back in 2008 would spawn a franchise and a theme-park attraction (a re-creation of the films' Isle of Berk opened at Universal Studios Florida earlier this year). 'The most critical choice they made for the live-action was making sure the audience falls in love with Toothless,' he adds. 'And that you understand that if you have a creature like that as your friend, you wouldn't give up on it.'
