Our take
Produced by Eminem, Bodied is like if the rap battles of 8 Miles lasted a whole movie, and that movie was a comedy. Adam is a white poetry major who studies battle rap and believes they represent the most modern form of poetry. His fascination leads him to participate and win in a battle and subsequently enter that world. But this is anything but an underdog story – Bodied is more of a satire of what Adam represents and how his college entourage reacts to his offensive lyrics. This is a funny movie and an interesting commentary on what it means to be offensive nowadays.
Streaming arrival
Elsewhere
"Bodied is uneven, but it has the fire where it counts."
— Bilge Ebiri
""Bodied" doesn't come to any hard conclusions, but suggests that the ultimate cathartic power of rap comes from its ability to be an equal-opportunity offender."
— Eric Kohn
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.
This is hilarious! Clever script, great characters. Especially the asian dude.