Credit: Netflix

Quinn Shephard and Gina Gammell’s The Body on Netflix is the kind of psychological horror-thriller that makes you repeatedly question what’s true and false, since the co-showrunners really leave a lot open to interpretation, especially the shocking season finale where Grace declares, “I am God.”

Closeted feelings, high-school drama, interpersonal friction, hidden truths, and teenage chaos make the coming-of-age story superficial yet grounded. So, it’s only natural that fans are curious whether a true story inspired the Netflix series netizens cannot stop raving about.

Well, the answer isn’t simple, just like every other answer fans have been seeking after finishing The Body. Although the core story may not be a direct adaptation, the nooks and crannies that make the show what it is are inspired by the archives of Shephard and Gammell’s high school experiences, helping blend coming-of-age tropes with Catholic horror and teen psychodrama.

For example, creator Quinn developed the quirky details of the heated bathtub scene towards the end of the season, where Anya makes out with Steven and her best friend Elise, unable to contain her intense desires for the latter, by feigning to rouse her boyfriend, ultimately breaking Elise’s heart, in the writers’ room. “As it unfolded, it became clear we were exercising a lot of really personal stuff in that episode… I got quite emotional that day,” she told Tudum.

Similarly, Gammell, who attended an all-girls Christian high school as a non-Christian, squeezed her personal challenges of fitting in into the show. “When you’re trying to find your own identity, whether it’s artistic identity, your sexuality, etc., I think that it is really a distinct feeling to be like, ‘Who am I in a group and who am I as an individual?’” she said. “That is so personal to myself and Quinn, but also to most people who grew up in any kind of group environment as girls.”

Shephard revealed that, having been on the same boat as Anya, she struggled with insecurities about her sexuality, which actively made her an outcast as a teen. “I’ve been the girl who is very confused about what she’s feeling,” who was always worried that she’d be “less of a girl’s girl or feminine,” if she were queer. So, The Body’s characters are clearly not born out of a vacuum.

Besides drawing on their experiences growing up, Gammell and Shephard also lend a hand to the cast to make moments of love, heartbreak, and adolescent pain real and relatable, while letting the members improvise and find their rhythm. Speaking of Anya and Elise’s first intimate moment in The Body’s debut episode, it was originally supposed to be them against a wall before the physical proximity intensified.

But Sara Boustany said, “It didn’t feel inviting enough.” “We collectively decided that they should be on the floor after being so high, laughing and crawling. I feel like that’s pretty natural. It would have been hard to figure out how something could accidentally happen between two friends when they’re standing up.”

When the ideas kept pouring in on the set, Gammell welcomed them with an “if you can beat [the script,] beat it.” “I think that’s how you know that you’ve cast your characters right, when the actors are making things better than you could have possibly written them.” As a result, Kristina Bogic and Boustany ultimately kept journals for their characters to keep up with their inspiration palette.

 So, even though the central mystery and storyline may not be true, The Body is punctuated by memories of real-life experiences. All you need to do is read between the lines!