Netflix get new series wey dem call The Body, and na Quinn Shephard write and create am. Di show follow one all-girls dance squad for Catholic school, and according to di source, one kind mass hysteria catch di group after initiation ceremony wey involve drug go wrong.
Shephard no be new person for screen. Her work before include di film Not Okay and di Hulu miniseries Under the Bridge. But she talk say The Body na di project she relate to pass. She tell The Cut say di show draw from movies, plays, and books wey she dey obsessed with when she be teenager. She talk say she be 15-year-old wey get serious fixation on The Crucible and di Salem witch trials. She add say her first movie na about girl wey get too intense about being in high-school production of The Crucible, and e be autobiographical. She talk say she too wear little Peter Pan collars and crosses to her New Jersey public high school.
Every scene, outfit and early-2000s song for di soundtrack, according to di report, carry inspiration from lesbian camp classics like But I’m a Cheerleader and Jennifer’s Body. Shephard describe di Catholic aesthetics as “the best in the game,” and di report talk say dem make every scene feel spiritual. For theme, di source compare The Body to Broadway’s 2025 play John Proctor Is the Villain, where high-schoolers read The Crucible during Me Too movement. Di source talk say The Body happen for early 2000s but e feel like show wey only fit made for now.
Shephard explain how di idea start. She talk say she start writing version of di show when she be 20 or 21, and di characters remain same. Di pilot no change much, even though di series itself change plenty. She talk say she start work on am di year she dey realize she be queer and coming out for first time. A lot of di show, she talk, na exploration of cult and religion of femininity and girlhood, plus fear of losing that. She add say though ten years ago feel recent, e be very different time. She talk about conversations with her ex, di first girl she ever date, about their relationship with femininity.
