[Film Review] Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Like many horror fans, I was shamefully late to the Jennifer's Body party, watching it for the first time in 2020.

On its release in 2009, it was deemed a flop - getting a lukewarm reception from critics and underperforming at the box office. Publicity for the film focused almost solely on Megan Fox, who had huge star power from her recent role in the Transformers franchise. This misjudged marketing campaign attempted to reel in teen male viewers, disregarding the appeal of the film for the female audience who would eventually become the film's champions. In the years since its release, Jennifer's Body has gained a dedicated fanbase, who have rescued the film from obscurity and given it cult status. 

Anita "Needy" Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried) and Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) are odd-couple best friends - Jennifer a popular, confident cheerleader; Needy a more reserved, bookish type. They go on a night out to a local bar to see indie band Low Shoulder, which ends in disaster as a fire breaks out, burning the bar to the ground. The band take advantage of the chaos and persuade Jennifer to drive with them to the local waterfall, where they perform a Satanic ritual requiring a virgin sacrifice. Mistaking Jennifer's earlier honesty about her sexual activity for the bravado of the inexperienced, these assumptions about Jennifer backfire for the band. She not only escapes death but emerges from the ritual stronger, and distinctly demonic.  With Jennifer's power comes a new hunger, and as the body count rises, Needy finds her loyalty to Jennifer being tested. 

Jennifer's Body is far more substantial than the paper-thin teen flick that that the marketing made it out to be. Director Karyn Kusama and scriptwriter Diabolo Cody centre the film around the relationship between Jennifer and Needy. Although Needy's boyfriend Chip is a major secondary character, the friendship between the girls (which is also made explicitly queer) is definitely the crux of the film. Fox and Seyfried both give outstanding performances in roles that provide complex arcs for both characters. It's impossible not to  root for the charismatic Jennifer as she dispatches her victims, and Seyfried empathetically conveys the terrible conflict Needy feels between loyalty to her friend and the duty to bring Jennifer's killing spree to an end. 

The film also delves into subjects such as the effects of shared trauma, as the town deals with the aftermath of the fire, and the toxic nature of power and the music industry shown through Low Shoulder's exploitation of the tragedy. The characters' actions often exist in a moral grey area, and there is no easy solution or return to the status quo at the conclusion of the main events of the film.  

The film has become a cult favourite in large part due to its unrestrained sense of fun. The sharp, witty dialogue from Juno scriptwriter Diabolo Cody is full of biting put-downs and cynical quips. As Jennifer comes to embrace her new part-demon status, she sets about hunting her teenage male prey with gusto and swagger. The film gives us a host of iconic moments: the classic slo-mo walk down the corridor, some superbly bloody kills, and Jennifer testing her invulnerability by nonchalantly holding a lighter flame to her tongue. 

Kusama went on to direct the very different but equally superb The Invitation (reviewed here by Becky Darke), a disturbing slow burn dealing with resurfacing grief and cult mentality. Slated to direct a new Blumhouse-produced version of Dracula in the near future, horror fans have much to look forward to from this talented director.

Jennifer's Body is a darkly funny look at the specific hell of being a teenage girl, and is rightfully coming to be seen as a classic of the genre. If you have yet to discover this film, it's better late than never - welcome to the party.

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