Guys at Parties Like It, the feature debut by directors Colton David Coate and Michael Coate, is the latest offering in feminist horror. Utilizing a fraternity party as the story’s backdrop, it follows a sorority sister caught in a hazing ritual gone wrong. The film has a lot going for it with regard to its sense of style: the neon lighting, kinetic cinematography, and special effects provide a lovely feast for the eyes. Unfortunately, like its predecessors — Black Christmas (2019), Promising Young Woman, and Men, its style overtakes its substance. While a visual spectacle, the script falls flat as a bland analysis of rape culture, toxic masculinity, and cliche one-liners that hit a little too close to the girlboss stratosphere.
The film follows Mary (Monica Garcia Bradley), a sorority sister with an ironically promiscuous reputation. She attends a party at the rowdy house of Delta Delta Chi — which happens to be holding its initiation for pledges the same night. Each pledge must find a girl and swipe their “V card” by the night’s end lest their brothers choose for them. Mary accidentally becomes tangled in this ritual when a desperate pledge named Brad (Anthony Notarile) catches wind that she’s easy pickings. Mary becomes trapped in a game of cat and mouse at the frat house while trying desperately to escape the hoard of fraternity brothers who want Brad to succeed by any means necessary.
Guys at Parties Like It makes the best of its small budget. Cinematographer Corey Green knows how to cultivate and maintain an atmosphere. Despite the film’s single location, the kinetic camera movement and constantly shifting party lights make the setting interesting. The many chase sequences also stand apart from one another while the soundtrack balances between diegetic party music and atmospheric tunes to perfectly build tension.
The blood and guts caused by the frat’s shady antics are incredibly visceral and well done. All of the special effects look fantastic, and Green makes sure to linger on them. I always appreciate the use of practical gore, and the work done in Guys at Parties Like It is some of the best short of Terrifier 2.
It’s a disappointment that the script is borderline abysmal. We only emphasize with Mary and her sorority sisters because we watch horrible things happen to them. Unfortunately, the only thing resembling characterization are allusions to prior events and horrible “girlboss” lines ripped straight from Twitter. Before the plot begins, little time is given to establish the characters, let alone make them likable. It would be an improvement if the sorority sisters were shown to be objectively awful before the party’s events. It would depict that all victims deserve justice despite how awful they might be — a novel take on media discussions on rape culture. As it stands, the girls exist as little more than suffering nonplayers adding to the “sluts can say no” commentary.
This is an odd choice, considering the disproportionate amount of time showing how absolutely vile the brothers of Delta Delta Chi are. Tony (Pablo Samstrom), who seems to be the president, is a coke-addled mafioso type. Brad is a virgin and a sadomasochist. Naturally, a brother named Kyle (Jackson Trent) is seen fighting with his girlfriend about filming her without consent, then sleeps with her while she’s incredibly intoxicated. Perhaps the most bizarre inclusion is a brother snapback-deep in the closet, Connor (Yuhua Hamsaki), who happens to be Mary’s gay bestie.
Connor is responsible for starting the rumor about Mary’s promiscuity, but it’s addressed once and then never brought up again. The character’s inclusion seems pointless, except for the consequences for pledges that don’t swipe a “V card.” It feels like time would’ve been better spent developing Mary and her sorority sister’s characters.
Guys at Parties Like It is amazing from a technical standpoint, but its script and characters weaken its messages about toxic masculinity and rape culture. While it’s visually stunning with amazing gore, dynamic sound, and camerawork, those elements are just dressing on a half-baked script. Our protagonist Mary and her sorority sisters are completely flat characters that seem to exist solely to suffer. In contrast, the male characters either exist as one giant gay joke. They are evil to the point of cartoonish absurdity. The film has nothing new to say, and it’s a forgettable and somewhat garish attempt at critique.
