Horror Comedies: Bodies Bodies Bodies & The Invitation

Summer is always the season when the funny horror films are released. And since funny horror is the only horror I'm truly interested in, I enjoyed watching the following two films. Which are both written and directed by women - if this is how women have now decided to make their mark behind the camera in Hollywood, sign me right up.

Bodies Bodies Bodies: What a raucous ride. It's hard to write a review of this movie because so much of what happens makes sense only when you get to the very final scene of the film and realize exactly how freaking insane the past hour and a half has been. So all I can say is, please go watch the movie so we can then discuss in spoilerific detail everything that happened. But fine, you want more details? Here they are.

The movie follows a group of rich, young Gen Z-ers (and a random older guy played by Lee Pace) who are all at a house party getting drunk and drugged out of their minds. When a thunderstorm hits, they have to resort to indoor activities and decide to play a murder mystery game. The game quickly goes nowhere. But then, one of the characters dies and their game quickly turns into reality. One by one, bodies start accumulating and everyone is pointing fingers at each other, no longer sure who to trust. Everyone seems to have a potential for hidden motive or just plain psychopathic tendencies, but they are also a bunch of young people attuned to therapy speak who still find the time to bitch at each other about how no one respects the hard work they are doing on their podcast and the stress of maintaining a Google Calendar.

Directed by Halina Reijn and written by Sarah DeLappe from a story by Kristen Roupenian, this movie is a funny, briskly-plotted satire of privileged young kids, and that final scene just ties everything up with a perfect bow. Everything is shot wonderfully, especially once there’s a blackout and everyone is exploring the house aided only by the flashlights on their phones or the eerie light of their glowstick necklace and bracelets. And there’s a banging soundtrack to boot. The cast is phenomenal, featuring people like Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova (that's Borat's daughter!), Pete Davidson, and my fave, from Shiva Baby, Rachel Sennott. This movie feels like being at a rave but you won’t leave with a hangover, and isn’t that just the best endorsement?

The Invitation: This is a movie about a young Black American woman, Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), who takes a DNA test and discovers she has some very white, rich cousins who live across the pond in England. They are delighted to find her, and convince her to fly over for a family wedding so she can instantly meet all the family and become reacquainted with her English roots. When she arrives, there is a very hot lord of the manor, Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty), who thankfully is not related to her and so is potentially up for some romantic shenanigans. And the manor itself is a sprawling country estate that even Mr. Darcy would approve of. What could possibly go wrong?

Welp, a lot, it turns out. Something mysterious is transpiring in this house and this family is entirely too eager to welcome Evie into the family, for reasons that will proceed to become horrifically clear. If you’ve seen the trailer, you already know what you’re going to get with this movie so perhaps the secret is to go into it cold so you can enjoy some more twists and turns. 

This movie is essentially a combination of Ready or Not and Get Out. Both of which are far superior films that I would exhort you to watch ahead of this one. But this movie is perfectly fine. Written by Blair Butler and directed by Jessica M. Thompson, it certainly feels rather formulaic and nothing took place on screen that I hadn’t already seen coming from a mile away (though again, not sure how much of that is the fault of the trailer), but it was still a fun summer movie, and a breezy way to get some of your horror jollies for the season.