Body is a 2015 American thriller film written and directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen in their directorial debut. It stars Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, Lauren Molina, and Larry Fessenden.
Three female college students break into a beautiful mansion on Christmas Eve and make themselves at home. But when the property's groundskeeper discovers them, they react impulsively and a horrific tragedy ensues. Although they attempt to work together to deal with this predicament, they eventually turn on one another.
Tropes:
- Banging for Help: Paralyzed from the neck down and unable to speak above a whisper, Arthur attempt to attract Ben's attention by using his teeth to yank a tray off a table and shatter some glasses. Ben doesn't hear it.
- Big Fancy House: Cali takes her friends to a beautiful mansion that she says belongs to her rich uncle who is a hedge fund manager. However, it turns out that the house actually belongs to a family she used to babysit for and they are in fact trespassing.
- Clothing Damage: Cali rips Holly's top to make it look like Arthur attacked her.
- Conveniently Placed Sharp Thing: When Holly is tied up by Cali, she manages to reach a piece of broken glass (from the glasses Arthur had pulled of the table earlier) with her foot and drag it to her, and use it to cut her bonds.
- Death by Falling Over: The girls they think they have killed Arthur after shoving him down the staircase. But then he turns out to be Not Quite Dead, and things become a lot more complicated.
- Drawing Straws: Cali, Holly and Mel cut cards to see which one of them will have to fake being the rape victim when they attempt to claim Arthur's death as self-defence. Holly loses.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Takes place over the course of Christmas Eve.
- False Rape Accusation: When the girls think they have killed Arthur, they plan to accuse him of attempting to rape Holly and claim that they killed him in self-defence.
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Takes place on Christmas Eve.
- A House Divided: After they think they have killed Arthur, Cali is able to persuade Holly and Mel to go along with her plan of claiming Arthur tried to rape one of them and that they killed him in self-defence (albeit reluctantly in Holly's case). However, when Arthur turns out to be Not Quite Dead, the girls' unity starts to fray rapidly. By the time Cali proposes murdering him, Holly is in open revolt and Mel is caught in the middle.
- How We Got Here: Opens with a panicked 9-1-1 call over a black screen. The rest of the movie depicts the events leading up to that call.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: After the girls think they have killed Arthur, Cali proposes framing Arthur for attempted rape and claiming they killed him in self-defence. However, when Arthur turns out to be Not Quite Dead, she proposes waiting for him to die and then continuing with the original plan rather than calling for an ambulance. And when he continues to linger, she decides to murder him over Holly and Mel's objections: somehow believing that all three actions are morally equivalent.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: After the girls think they have killed Arthur, Cali proposes framing Arthur for attempted rape and claiming they killed him in self-defence. When Arthur turns out to be Not Quite Dead, she proposes waiting for him to die and then continuing with the original plan. And when he continues to linger, she decides to murder him over Holly and Mel's objections: arguing that all three actions are morally equivalent.
- Not Quite Dead: Holly thinks she has killed Arthur after causing him to suffer a Staircase Tumble. Cali concocts a scheme to claim that they killed him in self-defence, but then they discover that he is alive but paralyzed and things get a lot more complicated.
- Now That's Using Your Teeth!: Although paralyzed from the neck down, Arthur manages to grab the tassel on a table runner with his teeth and pull on it, causing a tray of glasses to fall to the floor in an attempt to attract attention.
- One-Word Title
- Sunglasses at Night: Mel's father wears sunglasses all the time. Towards the end of the film, Holly asks Mel why that is. Mel replies that he is still smoking weed and thinks that wearing sunglasses will stop anyone noticing that he is stoned, but all it does is make him more conspicuous.
- Staircase Tumble: The girls attempt to flee when Arthur catches them in the mansion. He grabs Holly at the top of the stairs, but she pushes him and he falls down the staircase.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Every single thing bad thing that happens is Cali's fault, and she insists on dragging Mel and Holly with her: overriding their objections and badgering them until they agree with her.
- Vorpal Pillow: Tired of waiting for Arthur to die, Cali takes matters into her own hands and smothers him with a cushion.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Cali's original plan is claim that Arthur attacked them and that they killed him in self-defence. She forces Holly to do some very unpleasant things to rough up her appearance and leave other physical traces to sell the story that she was attacked. After Holly kills Cali, she and Mel go with a variant of Cali's plan to explain the deaths of Arthur and Cali.
