The Eminem-produced rap battle film "Bodied" took the crowd by storm at the recent Toronto International Film Festival. Despite its niche genre, the film had several sold-out screenings and ended the event by bringing home an award.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Bodied" took home the Midnight Madness audience award at the 2017 TIFF, besting James Franco's "The Disaster Artist" and Vince Vaughn's Brawl at Cell Block 99 at the category. The movie focuses on Adam, played by Calum Worthy, who discovers his gift in the field of rap battling while doing some research for his thesis.
Veteran music video director Joseph Kahn and former rap battle champion Alex Larsen, also known as "Kid Twist," led the project as director and scriptwriter respectively. Similar to Eminem's former movie "8 Mile," "Bodied" uses the world of rap battling to discuss racial issues, among others, through Worthy's character. The movie also features several big names in the rap battle scene like Dumbfounded, Disaster and Loaded Lux, along with actors Anthony Michael Hall and Debra Wilson, to name a few.
Unfortunately, it is not the only rap-themed movie in the market. As reported by The Guardian, "Bodied" is up against "VS" in the UK, another recently-released rap battle flick, this time from UK's top name in the scene, Shotty Horroh. With Rowan "Eugrh" Faife, another big name in rap battles, working as the chief consultant for the movie, it depicts a teenager, played by Conner Swindells, who enters rap battling to defeat his personal demons.
Eminem started building up his reputation and skill as a rapper by participating in rap battles. In the 1997 Rap Olympics, while not winning the top prize, the "Bodied" producer did well enough to get the eyes of the executives in Interscope Records to take notice and signed him up to their label. This became the springboard that brought the rapper to great heights.