‘The Body’ First Look: Teens Descend Into Mass Hysteria

Something is coming for these girls.

Netflix has unveiled the first look at The Body, an upcoming psychodrama series that plunges a group of Catholic school girls into a terrifying spiral of prophetic visions, religious obsession, and mass hysteria.

Created by Quinn Shephard, the eight-episode series premieres on Netflix November 11.

The Body follows “a group of badly behaved Catholic school girls who begin having prophetic visions that set off mass hysteria in their town after a dance-team initiation goes wrong.”

What starts as a teenage initiation quickly turns into something far more disturbing as the girls begin experiencing visions that appear to predict the future. As their classmates and community become consumed by the phenomenon, the boundary between religious revelation and collective hysteria begins to collapse.

Shephard describes the series as “gritty camp”, blending a raunchy teen psychodrama with elements of Catholic horror.

“I’ve always been interested in the idea of girlhood as a religious experience,” Shephard says. “This story is definitely my way of putting a playful spin on all the nightmares of my own teenage-dom.”

The cast includes Kristina Bogic as Anya Butler, Sara Boustany as Elise Zakaria, Geena Meszaros as Lisbeth Anderson, Nnamdi Asomugha as Father Franklin, Louisa Krause as Catherine Anderson, Shirley Chen as Maddie Delaney, Jackson Kelly as Leo Anderson, Sofia Wylie as Grace Franklin, and Gabby Windey as Coach Miller.

Shephard cites a number of iconic ’90s and Y2K-era movies as inspirations, describing The Body as a “love letter” to the teen movies and erotic thrillers she grew up watching.

Among those influences are Carrie, Jennifer’s Body, Heavenly Creatures, and even Mean Girls, though Shephard says the series approaches those inspirations through a more grounded lens.

Her fascination with The Crucible and the Salem witch trials also played a major role in shaping the series.

“I was also a teen with an embarrassingly intense fixation on The Crucible and the Salem witch trials,” Shephard says. “It’s been very interesting to revisit that with the shading of our current political climate!”

With prophetic visions, religious fanaticism, teenage rebellion, and a town spiraling into hysteria, The Body looks like Netflix is bringing something decidedly darker to the teen drama.

The Body premieres November 11 on Netflix.