If you’re looking for a film that’ll challenge you to stay on your toes, Bodies Bodies Bodies is an absolute must when it hits theaters on August 5th.

The new A24 release takes place at a remote mansion where a group of 20-somethings is riding out a storm by throwing a hurricane party. At one point, they opt to play a round of a game called Bodies Bodies Bodies. One member of the group is named the killer and the rest must figure out who that is before they can kill off all the other players. Even though they've all got the propensity to resort to backstabbing, manipulation, abusive power dynamics and then some, it all begins as just a game. However, when one of the players turns up dead (as in real dead), things spiral, amplifying their most toxic traits amidst the hysteria and desperation to find the killer and survive.

Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Pete Davidson and Rachel Sennott in Bodies Bodies Bodies
Image via A24

With Bodies Bodies Bodies gearing up for its theatrical release, director Halina Reijn and stars Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, Chase Sui Wonders, and Myha'la Herrold swung by the Collider interview studio at San Diego Comic-Con for a chat about the film.

If you’re wondering if the cast gave the game a go in real life, the answer is yes, and when asked who was the best at the game, Stenberg immediately jumped in; “We’ve agreed that Maria was the best.” How does Bakalova feel about earning the title of best Bodies Bodies Bodies player? “I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure. Is this a compliment? Is it actually a [critique]?” Herrold further elaborated on why Bakalova was the MVP of the game:

“The reason we say that she is the best is because we did all play when we first met and we were going around being like, ‘You’re the one. You’re the one! No, I’m not the one,’ and defending ourselves, and Maria was dead silent the entire time. And finally, some of us got so worked up, nearly to tears, and I was like, ‘Hold on. Maria hasn’t said a word.’”

If you’re wondering who was the worst at the game, Sennott had no problem awarding herself that title; “It was me because everyone kept thinking that I was the murderer and I wasn’t. I guess I look like a killer, but everyone kept being like, ‘It’s you,’ and I was like, ‘It’s really not.’” Stenberg added, “Rachel cannot tell a lie. She has too much anxiety.” Wonders also pointed out, “Playing this game with actors, you don’t understand what to believe because that could have been the performance of a lifetime was Rachel getting really worked up. It plays tricks on the mind.”

Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha'la Herrold and Rachel Sennott in Bodies Bodies Bodies
Image via A24

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Bodies Bodies Bodies mirrors the firsthand experience of playing the game. It’s a full-out relentless frenzy that challenges the viewer to assess and reassess the characters in an effort to figure out who’s responsible for the bloodshed. It’s seamless paranoia-fueled mania that well suited the style with which Reijn likes to make her films. She explained:

“The funny thing about this whole thing is that I’m not an educated filmmaker. I’m very intuitive, and this is how I like to work. And our DP, Jasper [Wolf], who also comes from the Netherlands, loves that way of working too, and so on my first film we did that too. So, of course, the editor’s like, ‘Wait, what is going on?’ Because there's a lot of handheld, there’s enormously long takes. But I want to bring the same atmosphere as I had in my theater group with Ivo van Hove to [the actors] and make it for them so that things can happen that are unpredictable that they totally get into it.”

Halina Reijn on the Set of Bodies Bodies Bodies
Image via A24

Unpredictable is an understatement. I’d be shocked if you make it through Bodies Bodies Bodies without pegging almost every single one of the characters as the killer at one point or another. In an effort to give you a little head start on the guessing game, the cast teased one quality they admire about their character and one questionable quality to keep an eye out for, beginning with Stenberg who plays Sophie in the film:

“Something that I admire about my character is if she’s feeling something, if she wants something, if she wants to say something, she does it. She goes for it, with not a ton of thought, necessarily. But I think that makes her very passionate and open and honest, and it can also be a double-edged sword. It can also be very dangerous.”

Wonders steps in as Emma, an aspiring actor who’s been dating Pete Davidson’s character for six years.

“Also a double-edged sword sort of quality is Emma, amidst great adversity, her boyfriend could be screaming in her face, spitting in her eyes and she holds her composure as best she can. There’s a resilience that is admirable about that, but at the same time, resilience can lead to deep repression of dark, dark demons and I think that can rear its head in uglier ways.”

Chase Sui Wonders and Pete Davidson in Bodies Bodies Bodies
Image via A24

Bakalova’s character is Bee, the only Bodies Bodies Bodies player who isn’t a longtime member of the friend group. In fact, this is the very first she’s ever met the other players because she only recently started dating Sophie and very quickly discovers that she does not fit in with her friends.

“I appreciate the fact that she’s much braver than me because I couldn’t be that brave. But I don’t really enjoy the fact that she’s not trustworthy and she’s not trusting [of other] people as well. I don’t trust people easily as well, so that’s kind of the only mutual thing between me and my character.”

Sennott’s Alice may not be the bravest of the bunch, but she does bring a very important quality to a hurricane party — she just wants to have fun. Here’s how Sennott put it:

“She just wants everyone to have a good time. She wants things to go well. She wants to dance, you know? And I love that. I think her weakness is she is so quick to jump, I can’t think of the best word to describe it, but she’ll change her mind really quick. I feel like a lot in the movie I’m like, ‘This person’s the killer. No, this person’s the killer. It’s them,’ and I think she doesn’t really ever slow down and maybe that’s the other side of the party, fun aspect is she’s kind of frantic.”

Rachel Sennott in Bodies Bodies Bodies
Image via A24

And finally, keep an eye on Herrold’s Jordan. Given her eagerness to step up and spearhead this fight to find the killer, you may think she’s key to making it through the night alive, but Jordan also has absolutely no problem taking others down if they get in her way. Herrold explained:

“One of the things I admire the most about Jordan is her leadership, we’ll call it leadership. When things start to go awry she sort of grabs all the sharpest things and says, ‘I’m gonna protect and we’re gonna find out [who it is].’ Go-getter attitude. That’s great. Love that. The thing about Jordan that I think is her weakness is that she’s like, I’m the biggest, smartest, strongest, but she’s also one of the least truthful people and she saves all of her ammunition until she can leverage it against someone, and I find that very sneaky and sad.”

Looking for more from Reijn and the cast of Bodies Bodies Bodies? There’s loads more from where this came from! You can catch our full 20-minute SDCC 2022 conversation in the video interview at the top of this article.