"Bottoms" - Film Review
I was born in the ’90s, but came of age in the 2000s. While not an official genre of film, the raunchy teen comedies of the aughts are their own special type of filmmaking. It’s not cool to say, but my love of movies came from watching Not Another Teen Movie, John Tucker Must Die, and Superbad. Cinematically, it’s where I’m from. The eccentric dialogue, wild plotlines, quotability, and re-watchable nature of these movies made them enduring to me. It has long felt like a bygone era of film, but have no fear, Bottoms is here.
Josie (Ayo Edebiri) and PJ (Rachel Sennott, who shares co-writing credits) are their school’s self-described, untalented, ugly gays. They’re at the absolute bottom of the popularity ladder, but their crushes are the hottest girls in school. Josie has a crush on Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), who’s dating the dumb, hotshot quarterback, Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine). Jeff’s name is always punctuated with an exclamation point. Isabel’s best friend, Brittany (Kaia Gerber), is PJ’s crush. Only problem? Josie and PJ have never spoken to these girls. Their off the wall plan to remedy this is to start a female fight club. The most surprising part of the plan? It works.
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Directed and co-written by Emma Seligman, Bottoms is a mess in the best possible way. Seligman’s first feature, Shiva Baby, was a series of tense but hilarious events unfolding over the course of a shiva. Bottoms cranks up the absurdity and zaniness, but never loses the biting, witty humor that will likely define Seligman’s career. It’s a bloody, horny gift that keeps on giving. Its essence comes from an era of films that haven’t aged well, but Bottoms is modern. The soundtrack is a mix of power ballads from the ’80s and the aughts like“Complicated” by Avril Lavigne. The film also brings back the much-missed tradition of including bloopers as the final credits roll.
Edebiri and Sennott are a dream team, effortlessly riffing while allowing each other to showcase their skills. Most will recognize Edebiri from her quietly hilarious performance as Syd in Hulu’s The Bear, while Sennott has most recently been seen in the widely (rightfully) ignored The Idol. Together, they’re lightning in a bottle. As much as it would be correct to say that Bottoms is their movie, that would be a disservice to the immensely talented supporting cast. The biggest surprise of all comes from Marshawn Lynch as the fight club’s teacher representative. To those who don’t follow football, Lynch spent twelve years in the NFL as a running back. He had a reputation for being the class clown, and he’d guest starred in comedies like Brooklyn 99 and The League, but Bottoms is arguably his largest role. He goes toe-to-toe with Sennott and Edebiri, who are some of the funniest actors working today. Lynch’s comedic timing is spot on, and solidifies his character as one of the great teachers of teen movie fame.
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Bottoms is exciting for queer kids (now adults) who watched the raunchy movies of the early-2000s and desperately wished to see some gay characters in that style of movie. PJ and Josie are fully formed people. They’re self-centered, caring, and reckless in the tangled mess that all high schoolers are. The entire film is filled with odd, messy, queer kids who aren’t the butt of the joke. I mean, they’re the butt of the joke and on the receiving end of more than a few punches, but the distinct difference is that this film is made for and by queer people. We’re poking fun at ourselves, remembering how dumb we were in high school, and enjoying our moment in the sun. Bottoms would be special simply because of that, but the fact that it’s side-achingly hilarious makes it feel like a once-in-a-hundred-years movie.
In this day and age, when streaming services segment our viewing habits, can a movie be a cult classic? If any movie could, it would be Bottoms. The lack of a discernable time period (the film could take place anywhere from the late ’90s to now) makes it feel eternally relevant. Is there anything more relatable than starting an all-out, bloody, after school fight club because you want to make out with someone? Bottoms would argue no, then punch you in the face.
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