Entertainment

This 10/10 Horror Cult Classic Just Gets Better With Age

Published

3 hours ago

11 March 2026

NewsAdmin

Following Diablo Cody’s success with the 2007 film Juno, the writer sought to complete her next project. Her hyper-specific dialogue made the film a sensation and was quoted years after its release. Her next film, sadly, was not met with as much fanfare. In 2009, Cody wrote Jennifer’s Body, a critique of the male gaze set in a high school.

Even though the film was directed by Karyn Kusama, who would go on to direct The Invitation and executive produce Yellowjackets, her work on Jennifer’s Body would largely be unappreciated until years later. The horror film was massively mismarketed as a teen drama when it was actually a satirical, deliciously bloody look at gender roles. Jennifer’s Body has the same witty dialogue as Juno, but instead follows a teenage girl who, after being sacrificed to the devil, comes back as a man-eating succubus. Many audiences misread the film the first time around, but it is finally getting a chance to live again on Tubi.

‘Jennifer’s Body’ Would Be a Smash Success if It Came out Today

In 2009, conversations about gender still had a long way to go. While feminism had its place in pop culture, Jennifer’s Body went over many critics’ heads. Viewers were distracted by its campy tone and did not pay attention to the resonant themes at its bloody center. It didn’t help that the film’s marketing campaign seemed to try to capitalize on Megan Fox’s popularity with a younger male audience, which is precisely one of the film’s central critiques. It was marketed toward a young male audience, which missed the film’s intent.

Fox plays Jennifer Check, a high school student who is only appreciated for her sex appeal. One night, a touring band takes advantage of her in a Satanic ritual meant to grant them fame. It goes horribly awry, and instead of being sacrificed, Jennifer turns into a demon who can only survive by consuming the flesh of boys.

The relationship between Jennifer and her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) is another element that was geared more to a female audience, but was misunderstood upon its release. The film also depicts the complexities of female friendships, which an audience over-sexualizing Fox would naturally miss out on. Needy and Jennifer’s relationship is extremely specific to the female experience. Though Jennifer becomes a cannibalistic monster, she initially refuses to cross the line of killing her best friend. Jennifer’s Body also deals with the spectrum of sexuality, which is not always depicted in mainstream films.

At the time, the project was unfairly compared to Twilight, which had only come out the previous year. This story was not a supernatural romance at all, but a horror film about the ramifications of taking away women’s bodily autonomy. Despite its outrageousness, the film’s subtleties were wildly misconstrued. It is tragic that had the film come out today, it likely would have been embraced with open arms. If anything, it has become more relevant than ever in the current cultural landscape. Now, fans have the opportunity to give the film a second chance by streaming it on its current home, Tubi.