Where to Watch: Bodies Bodies Bodies is playing at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema DTLA, AMC Theaters, and more. Now playing at Rooftop Cinema Club DTLA.

Bodies Bodies Bodies has been out in theaters for almost a month now. Shortly after its release, the film found itself at the center of juicy #FilmTwitter internet gossip when lead actor Amandla Stenberg called out NYT culture critic Lena Wilson for her controversial take that reduced the film to a “95-minute advertisement for cleavage”. The aftermath of that statement has certainly drawn more attention to the film (and there’s no such thing as bad PR, as the old saying goes), but what’s been fascinating about seeing this unfold is how eerily on brand the whole discourse is. Here are two people with “Main Character Energy” unabashedly expressing their critiques and clapbacks through social media for validation from the invisible audience they’re trying to win over.

Without even realizing it, Stenberg and Wilson’s actions are like an extension of Bodies Bodies Bodies’ thesis statement of cancel culture (as of writing this, Wilson’s Twitter account has been deactivated), the desperation for acceptance among peers, and how social media has the power to divide us all.

It’s hard to feel empathy for a group of entitled 20-somethings with so much disposable income and so little self-awareness, so the right approach to have when watching this film is to laugh at, not with, the characters. Sophie (Stenberg) and her new girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova) arrive a couple of days late to the highly anticipated “Hurricane Party” at her friend’s vacant mansion in the woods, but their timing turns out to be just right as they narrowly avoid the big storm. Quickly after Sophie and Bee’s arrival, the weather changes and forces the entire group inside to partake in drugs, booze, food, and more drugs.

Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, and Pete Davidson round out the friend group, each adding their own quirky personality traits to the characters. Sennott’s dramatic over-acting steals the show while Davidson doesn’t do much acting at all in his role as “David” (lol), which will either excite or annoy his fans. His screen time is minimal in comparison to the rest of the cast, so it’s puzzling that he seems to have been the focal point of the film’s campaign- further evidenced by the film’s header picture on its landing page on the A24 website. Davidson’s good for a few laughs with his natural comedic timing but overall isn’t as well utilized as one would have assumed. But I digress…

Stuck inside the house for an undetermined amount of time, the friends decide to play a game of Bodies Bodies Bodies. The rules are similar to the game Mafia but in BBB, every round begins by randomly slapping your neighbor in the face, a move that we all know will only lead to heightened tension among those with repressed anger issues and emotional angst (aka all of them). The fun party game quickly turns into a real-life game of Clue when David is found dead – throat slit – and no one knows who did it or why. As they try to figure out just what the hell is going on, the friends slowly turn into frenemies and begin to question everything and everyone, especially the new girl, Bee. Who is she, really? And going one step further, how well do you really know your best friends?

Bodies Bodies Bodies is a masterclass of self-awareness when it comes to the “style over substance” archetype. Directed by Halina Reijn with a screenplay by Sarah DeLappe, the intentional cringe of overly-woke vocabulary and everyone’s fragile egos can be challenging to digest, even for a dark comedy, but it does fit squarely into the Gen Z cinematic universe.

So, is Bodies Bodies Bodies a film that needs to be seen in theaters? Not necessarily. In fact, I believe this film would be best enjoyed at home with friends and an alcoholic beverage or two of your choice. It’s lighthearted fun for the most part until you realize that behind the campy and provocative moments is the horrifying reality that stories like this happen in the real world all the time, Bodies Bodies Bodies becomes more of a twisted cautionary tale for the social media obsessed.