The Body Review: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
The Body is a campy, stylish mix of horror, drama, and satire with a standout villain and lovely period details. The writing is thin, many characters feel flat, and big ideas are never fully explored.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Genre: Teen Horror Drama
Language: English
Creator: Quinn Shephard
Cast: Kristina Bogic, Geena Meszaros, Sara Boustany, Jackson Kelly, Sofia Wylie, Louisa Krause
Episodes: 8
Girlhood can be dazzling and a little frightening, and The Body leans into both. The eight-episode series is now streaming on Netflix. It comes from Quinn Shephard, the creator of Under the Bridge, and it pays loving tribute to 2000s favourites like Bring It On, Jennifer’s Body, and Mean Girls.
The story opens on Halloween in 2004 at a Catholic high school in the Northeast. Anya, played by Kristina Bogic, and Elise, played by Sara Boustany, are best friends and co-captains of the school dance troupe, the Lions. They call each other “wife.”
Their star dancer has broken her ankle, and regionals are two weeks away, so they hold emergency tryouts. Among the hopefuls are Lisbeth, played by Geena Meszaros, who is new in town, and Grace, played by Sofia Wylie, the niece of the school’s head, Father Franklin, played by Nnamdi Asomugha.
Lisbeth does not make the team, but Anya kindly invites her to a Halloween party at an old, empty convent. Lisbeth lives under the thumb of her strict, deeply religious mother, so she jumps at the chance. The party gets out of hand. There is drinking, ecstasy, and a spooky ritual to welcome Grace into the group.
By morning, Grace is found unresponsive, and Lisbeth now has something she can use to force Anya into friendship. The girls swear to stay silent, but secrets rarely stay buried. Rumours spread, guilt grows, and a wave of hysteria sweeps through the Lions and then the whole town.
The best part of the show is Lisbeth. She first looks like a kicked puppy, and then she turns into a snake. Meszaros makes her skin crawl with a sweet, sing-song voice and a way of touching a Bible like a child holding a toy. One critic called her cold nature almost an elemental force, and that fits.
Bogic and Boustany also share a warm chemistry as friends who may be more, if only they could shake off the fear of being queer in a world that treats it as a sin. Jackson Kelly is touching as Lisbeth’s gentle brother Leo, and Gabby Windey adds some fun in a small role as the coach.
The look and feel of the era deserve praise. Velour tracksuits, flip phones, multi-tap texting, and songs from Chingy, Ciara, and Kelly Clarkson set the mood perfectly. The show also makes a smart point that without social media, lies were easier to bury. It is at its best when it looks at female friendship, gossip, herd mentality, and how easily a group can be pushed around, much like a religion.
Now for the problems. Not every critic is as kind. The writing struggles to give most of the cast real depth, even with eight full episodes. Many characters are easy to understand but hard to love. A pairing between Elise and Leo looks promising and then gets dropped.
Father Franklin’s search for the truth builds tension but tells us little about how it shakes his own faith. The show also plays with the line between religious images and sexual ones, but it only points at the idea and never goes deeper. The tone is mostly straight-faced, so it is neither truly scary nor sharply funny. The 2004 setting sometimes feels chosen for nostalgia alone.
If you want more to watch, our Avedon review covers a beautiful documentary on a photography legend. For a big fantasy ride, try our Rings of Power Season 3 review, and for a quick thriller, read our Blind Game review.
The Body has style, a great villain, and plenty of campy fun. It just does not dig as deep as it wants to.
The Body is now streaming on Netflix.