Eminem’s satirical film about battle rap debuted at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Thursday evening. Before the film was shown, an actual battle rap took place before “Bodied” premiered.
The film stars Calum Worthy as Adam, a suburban white graduate student from the Bay Area who wants to submerge himself into the world of battle rap. He enlists a mentor, Behn Grymm (Jackie Long), and gets additional help from friends played by Walter Perez, Shoniqua Shandai, and real life battle rappers like Loaded Lux, Dumbfoundead and Dizaster. The trailer for the movie shows two White men discussing battle rap and then transitions to one of them being “bodied” in an actual battle.
Eminem and filmmaker Joseph Kahn took “Bodied” and its battle rap story to discuss race relations and cultural appropriation. At one point in the film, one of the White characters seeks the approval to say the N-word among his Black friends.
The film also features Charlargne Tha God, Anthony Michael Hall, Debra Wilson, Rory Uphold and more. Canadian rapper Kid Twist talked about how “intense” and “exhilarating” battle rap can be.
“You get a fix of it and as soon as you finish, the elation is so incredible you want to immediately do another one,” Kid Twist said in an interview. “It’s one of the most grueling and exhilarating things you can do.”
Enimem has been quiet lately, but “Bodied” may just be the beginning of a return for the “8 Mile” star. He tweeted last fall that he is working on a new album. It will certainly be one of the most anticipated projects.
Our #TIFF17 Midnight Madness Opening Night Film is @JosephKahn’s BODIED, with Anthony Michael Hall, Debra Wilson, @cthagod and @CalumWorthy. pic.twitter.com/MNZ6C2Vkiy
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) August 1, 2017
