The Gen Z-skewering slasher film stars Maria Bakalova, Pete Davidson, Amandla Stenberg, and Lee Pace.
Sun’s out, fun’s out!
So how did she wind up directing A24’sPete Davidson-starring horror-comedyBodies Bodies Bodies(out August 5)?
Eric Chakeen/A24
“My whole whole life has beenHedda Gabler,The Taming of the Shrew,” she says.
“I was like, Can I yo have some f—ing fun?”
“[It’s] likeMean GirlsmeetsLord of the Flies,” says Reijn.
Gwen Capistran/A24
“But are they actually friends?”
“Initially she’s quite charming and relatable,” Stenberg says of Sophie.
There’s a lot of fodder for comedy there."
Gwen Capistran/A24
“I’m obsessed with power and sexuality in a pressure-cooker environment” she says.
“With all those classical works, we turned them into modern pieces.
And we basically treated [Bodies Bodies Bodies] almost as if it was a Chekhov play.”
Gwen Capistran/A24
One of the truly fun aspects of the production was casting the film, Reijn recalls.
“In my own little country in the Netherlands, I know every actor,” says the director.
The director always had Davidson in the mind for the movie’s idiotically image-obsessed host.
Gwen Capistran/A24
Bakalova, meanwhile, impressed the filmmaker with both her performance inBorat Subsequent Moviefilmand with her acting background.
She’s really a true acting beast."
“I just thought it was a great symbol for narcissism and American wealth.
Trump would have lived there, that’s what the house looked like to me.”
“They were of great help to make it very accurate,” says Reijn.
So physically it was challenging, but I think it works for the story."
Has the experience of shooting the film encouraged her and Stenberg to spend less time on their phones?
“Um, no,” answers Stenberg with a laugh.
“I can’t say that my relationship to my phone has shifted at all.
Is that the most Gen-Z thing I could say?”
