From flashlights to light therapy masks: How ‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ nails its lighting

How do you light a film that takes place almost entirely in a black out?

That was one of the questions director Halina Reijn needed to answer before getting behind the camera for Bodies Bodies Bodies, a murder whodunnit with Gen Z flair. In the movie, a hurricane house party is the setting for major mayhem; to make matters worse, the power in the house goes down, leaving our leads to scramble for survival in the dark.

A lesser version of Bodies Bodies Bodies could have plunged entire scenes into darkness, leaving audiences to strain their eyes just to keep up. But Reijn and Bodies Bodies Bodies cinematographer Jasper Wolf cleverly make use of light to build atmosphere, develop character, and emphasize the film’s relationship to technology and digital culture. Still, the process to effectively light Bodies Bodies Bodies was initially a daunting challenge.

“[Shooting in the dark] was something I was extremely nervous about. I didn’t even know if we were going to pull it off,” Reijn told Mashable in a phone interview. “But I have also learned…that any limitation will in the end just make you stronger and be an inspiration.”

[Shooting in the dark] was something I was extremely nervous about. I didn’t even know if we were going to pull it off.

Reijn revealed that there were times when she and the Bodies Bodies Bodies story team considered making the film lighter sooner, instead of waiting until the very end for dawn to break. However, once they landed on the idea of the hurricane party, the puzzle pieces fell into place. This setting offered plenty of opportunities for emergency lighting within the house, as well as readily available flashlights and headlamps. The characters also have their phones with them, which they immediately use as flashlights as well. In this way, the film’s characters themselves become sources of light.

This meant that the actors had to light their co-stars. “For instance Myha’la Herrold [who plays Jordan] has the headlamp, and often we had to ask her to point her face in a very specific direction,” Reijn said. “And then we had Rachel Sennott [who plays Alice], and I thought it would be fun to change her whole character into a lighthouse. She dresses up for the party not knowing that this is going to happen, and then once the power is cut out, she lights everybody with her bracelets and necklaces.”

The cast of “Bodies Bodies Bodies” often had to light themselves.
Credit: A24/Gwen Capistran

The different ways in which Bodies Bodies Bodies characters light themselves and their surroundings were also great opportunities to showcase characters’ personalities. “The headlamp for Jordan, for instance, symbolizes her being the character who takes the lead and wants to find out and explore,” said Reijn. “It’s like [she’s the] seer.”

Then we have Alice, whose glow stick bracelets and necklaces lend scenes a rainbow neon-tinged glow. “[Alice] being a lighthouse herself is sort of what she is in the film,” said Reijn. “She’s naive, but also a force of nature who has this weird energy.” The glow sticks nicely reflect Alice’s party girl persona, as well as reminding us that this whole mystery started out as a rager gone very, very awry.

Every character also uses their phone as a light source, emphasizing this group’s reliance on technology. Even the different ways in which characters use their phones tell us something about them: Bee (Maria Bakalova) carries her phone on a lanyard so it’s always tethered to her. Earlier in the film, we see her texting a lot with her mother and worrying about how to reach her by phone. The lanyard is a great way to hammer home her connection to and communication with her mother.

Everything comes to light.
Credit: A24/Gwen Capistran

And of course, we can’t talk about lighting in Bodies Bodies Bodies without bringing up Greg (Lee Pace). Everyone believes that Greg killed David (Pete Davidson), so they set out to find him. They discover him lying down in the mansion’s gym, appropriately bathed in red emergency lighting and wearing a terrifying mask.

What first registers as a slasher villain mask — think Jason, Michael Myers, or Leatherface — actually turns out to be a light therapy mask. It’s one of the film’s best gags, equal parts horror reference and comedy. And according to Reijn, inspiration for the mask — which she credited production designer April Lasky for suggesting — came from reality TV.

“I watch a lot of all these Kardashian-type shows, and in those they wear that kind of mask all the time to make their skin better,” said Reijn. “And then there’s the whole idea that Gen Z is also obsessed with making yourself feel better and improving your mental health. I thought it would be funny that Greg also has these self-care moments.”

All these details, from turning Alice into a “lighthouse” to giving Greg a menacing self-care moment, help cement Bodies Bodies Bodies‘s tone of horror mixed with modern day internet culture. They’re also character-driven choices that cleverly circumvent the challenges of shooting scenes in the darkness. So when you check out Bodies Bodies Bodies, keep an eye on the lights. They certainly help make for an illuminating watch.

Bodies Bodies Bodies is now in select theaters, and will be releasing nationwide Aug. 12.