The Resurrection of ‘Jennifer’s Body’

TW: Discussions of Sexual Assault.

I did myself a favour and watched the cult classic Jennifer’s Body (which I highly recommend you do, too). Watching this clever, funny, thought-provoking movie in 2025, it is hard to believe that it was a major flop when it was released in 2009.

‘00s nostalgia spurts throughout the film. From the frosted eyeshadow to the digital cameras, it’s enough to bring a tear to a millennial’s eye. However, not everything about the film is dated. In fact Jennifer’s Body is hailed today as a modern feminist classic. 

This is particularly intriguing when remembering how badly the film bombed in 2009. Looking at Rotten Tomatoes scores, Jennifer’s Body has a rather pitiful 46% critic score and an even worse 36% audience score. Was this comedy-horror simply ahead of its time? Many believe so.

In pre-#MeToo 2009, Jennifer’s Body was marketed as a fun, sexy romp aimed at straight men. Sex symbol Megan Fox in the starring role as Jennifer, fresh from her scantily-clad Transformers fame, audience thought they knew what to expect from the actress. And Fox is wrist-achingly beautiful in the film; there is no doubt about that, but many complained she remained disappointingly fully clothed. There was also the promised same-sex kiss between Fox and Amanda Seyfrie,d which was framed more as an uncomfortable, confused, and tragic scene between two childhood friends rather than sexy. 

In short, Jennifer’s Body was marketed for the male gaze, even with a female writer (Diablo Cody) and director (Karyn Kusama) instead of what it is, which was a commentary about the treatment of female bodies (the clue was in the title, really). 

Many have theorised that the film is essentially a rape-revenge fantasy. The premise is (spoilers!) that Jennifer is kidnapped by an indie boyband after a gig. The group’s plan is to sacrifice young Jennifer to Satan in exchange for fame (obviously). Their plan goes awry when Jennifer lies about being a virgin, when she is not in fact even a “backdoor virgin”. This little lie causes Jennifer to turn into a creature-monster-succubus-type thing. This is a clear commentary on how women are only seen as useful or worthy if their virginity is intact. Also, how the music industry sacrifices young women to the altar of male lust.

Later that night, Jennifer appears at her childhood friend Needy’s (Amanda Seyfried) home drenched in blood and covered in bruises, with a vacant stare. After this, Jennifer begins to indiscriminately kill young men from her school. 

I theorise that the film is cleverly inverting the expectation of young women being targeted. Jennifer is indiscriminate in her choosing of victims. A school jock, a sensitive emo guy, and a foreign exchange student walking home alone at night. She lures them to secluded areas with the promise of sex and tears them apart until they look like “lasagne with teeth”.

With Jennifer’s murder spree terrifying the small town, its young men are warned not to go anywhere alone. Johnny Simmon’s character, Chip, is even given mace by his mother to protect him on prom night. 

Jennifer’s Body cleverly inverts many of the horror movie tropes. For example, the ‘nerdy girl’, Needy is not a virgin either. Needy and her boyfriend Chip actually have regular, no-consequence sex, which is unusual for a female character in a horror movie. 

This cult classic may have died on its initial release but it was resurrected by the dashboards of Tumblr and feminist blogs. Seyfried even teased the possibility of a sequel soon. Suffice to say there is definitely more to Jennifer’s Body than meets the eye!