Jennifer’s Body is a masterpiece haunted by its marketing, and the sequel has a chance to finally sell the story it was always about

Jennifer’s Body (2009), as I remember it, was a gory masterpiece that explored the unhealthy side of female friendships. Ignoring the movie’s age restriction, I watched it as a teen and was fascinated by the codependent and toxic relationship between Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Seyfried). But at the time, audience reviews reflected a different reception, and I didn’t realize as a teen that the movie’s marketing completely missed the plot.

In a 2025 interview with GQ, Seyfried revisited her role in Jennifer’s Body. She said, “I can’t critique this movie. It’s, to me, a perfect movie.” Seyfried praised Diablo Cody, the movie’s writer, and the way the film portrayed female rage and angst. She also admired the movie’s special effects. However, Seyfried pointed out that, if there was anything to criticize, it was the movie’s marketing.

“The marketing sucked. It just did. And we all agree,” Seyfried said. She described Karyn Kusama, the director, as a “fierce advocate of women in storytelling.” She believes Kusama enriched the story, but the marketing team cheapened the concept into a “gory romp” film. When I stumbled upon this interview, I felt encouraged to review the film’s marketing materials.

The promotional materials were too focused on Jennifer’s Body, literally

The trailer captured some of the film’s most memorable exchanges between Jennifer and Needy. One conversation included Needy confronting Jennifer for killing people. Jennifer responded with, “No, I’m killing boys.”

Although it successfully communicated that Fox’s character was committing bloody crimes, the trailer also heavily focused on shots of her body. Even the trailer scenes framed Jennifer as an enigmatic creature who lures men to their doom with her body. However, it never hinted at what turned her into a monster. But Jennifer’s Body, aside from exploring the complicated dynamics of female friendship, is also teenage body horror. Anyone who skipped the marketing materials and went straight to the film would understand that Jennifer is a victim of a botched sacrifice.

The horrific marketing for the film persisted. Most notably, the movie posters centered Megan Fox in several skimpy outfits. Most of these promotional materials left Amanda Seyfried out of the frame, even though the movie was narrated from her point of view. Additionally, Needy and Jennifer’s friendship is central to the plot, something the promotional materials failed to emphasize. So when the marketing materials catered to boys, likely fans of Megan Fox from the Transformers series, it’s no surprise the film was received poorly by critics.

A movie haunted by its marketing

A 2009 review by Laremy Legel at Rotten Tomatoes reads, “It’s almost as if no one knows what to do with Megan Fox.” That sentiment summarizes the confusion people had with the movie in its original release: who is the movie for? What is Megan Fox’s truly about? These wouldn’t be issues if, during promotion, the marketing focused on the film’s essence and catered to the right audience.

In a 2019 interview, Kusama blamed the movie’s marketing and accused the departments of failing to understand the movie they were promoting. Fox also reported that she “went through a very dark moment” after Jennifer’s Body because of the movie’s marketing. But more than a decade later, interest in Jennifer’s Body has been revived. Although the marketing may have killed the movie’s box-office success, interest has returned now that a sequel has been confirmed, with Seyfried and Fox reprising their roles. I think a part two is the best way for Cody and Kusama to redeem the film—to prove that it was the marketing, not the substance, that made the first movie flop. But before that, I just hope the second film doesn’t suffer the same marketing fate as the first.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.