‘Bottoms’- Film Review: Emma Seligman’s Second Feature is Absurdly Hilarious

Since the ’80s and ’90s, coming-of-age high school sex comedies have been a fixture for some excellent entertainment. Some were instant classics, while others deteriorated over time. From what we have here with Bottoms, it could be part of the former‌. Since it premiered at SXSW earlier this year, it was probably the most-talked-about film outside the festival, showcasing all signs of making some noise this late in the summer. Those who have waited patiently for cowriter/director Emma Seligman’s next project would be up for anything she accomplishes following the critical achievement of 2020’s Shiva Baby, an uncomfortable picture I’ve heard amazing things about but have yet to watch. And this seems to differ from her directorial debut by a long shot. I can love a teen comedy once in a while. But if you want Bottoms to come across as the lovechild of Heathers and Booksmart, then this is the kind that will guarantee to win within the Gen-Z crowd.

What’s the Story: PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) are two queer best friends who aren’t exactly the most popular students at their high school, being fabled “ugly, untalented gays.” Senior year has approached, and this is their shot at hooking up with their respective cheerleader crushes, Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu). Those plans won’t happen for Josie, especially since Isabel is dating the meathead star quarterback, Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine). The school year doesn’t start hot when rumors spread about PJ and Josie attending Juvie over the summer after Jeff was injured after Josie barely touched his kneecaps with her car. They got out of expulsion when they set up an after-school self-defense class or a “Fight Club” to help the female students protect themselves from the rival football players, while it’s an excuse for them to get some action with the hot girls.

You’ll immediately notice in Bottoms that the world Seligman created from this premise rides the line of absurdity even more so than being promoted as “Gay Fight Club.” We established this is her universe of satire/ throwback to the high school movies of the past that I don’t have to question, especially when it seems to take place in the mid-2000s. Everybody involved knew what kind of movie they signed up for when we, the audience, acknowledged something dumb from the dialogue or the fact that we always see football players wearing their uniforms in school. It’s the type of comedy that almost goes to a parody level but not to the point of making the execution obnoxious. Mind you, it’s not to everyone’s taste, but it worked not just because it made me laugh nearly throughout but because they committed to the tone without bowing out halfway through. And when there was a small crowd when I saw it, you better believe I laughed the hardest more than twice.

Neither of them knows how to fight, but they must go along with the juvie lie to impress their peers and get closer to their crushes. That’ll end up in nosebleeds and throwing punches that, luckily, don’t go down the dark path of the David Fincher classic I rewatched recently. And beneath it all, it’s an unexpected way to get to know each other, making a difference in their personal lives. Everybody has been an outsider in school, and it’s always nice to have a movie that can belong to them, especially when it’s impressing someone who’s out of our league.

When you need to have a film where your actors need to play off each other to perfection, it’s going to be impossible not to love Rachel Sennott (who co-wrote the screenplay) and Ayo Edebiri together, who have been real-life friends after attending New York University, along with Seligman. Different in personalities, the two made every scene in one of the freshest female friendships I’ve seen since Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein in Booksmart, while possibly being a dynamic duo I didn’t think I would love this year.

When I saw Bodies Bodies Bodies last year, that was my introduction to Sennott and instantly made me want to see this actress in any movie. She is an absolute star with such comedic timing in her character. Studio comedies will pay attention to her in the following months outside the indie world. And it’s been quite the year for Edebiri when she’s been in The Bear Season 2, Theater Camp (still need to see), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Her character, Josie, is who I can relate to most out of the two because, though not gay, of her shyness and the ability to open up a side of her that hasn’t been explored.

Besides the main two, the film doesn’t let us forget the impressive supporting cast, which includes Ruby Cruz as Hazel, the pair’s third wheel who turns out to be the most empathetic, Havana Rose Liu as Isabel, Kaia Gerber (who looks just like her supermodel mother, Cindy Crawford) as Brittany and even former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch gets some good laughs as Mr. G. He plays a teacher who advises the club and is going through a divorce, which explains not knowing what the hell he’s teaching in his class. History? And this is one of those rare times where an athlete can be a decent actor when a good script is handed to them.

But even when not all the jokes landed, and you expected to have a more emotional buildup later on, being able to embrace what it keeps it from falling apart for its 92 minutes. When it gets ridiculous in the third act, I wasn’t even surprised it goes there. And when you have a sad montage with Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” it’ll be a good recommendation from me. Strangely enough, they played it on the radio two minutes after leaving the theater. We’ve seen solid raunchy comedies over the past few months, with No Hard Feelings and the underrated Joy Ride setting the examples.

Occasionally violet yet constant with the laughs, Bottoms is the first movie in weeks where I joyfully left the theater. Seligman’s follow-up proved to not be a fluke in delivering an energetically hilarious throwback to classic high school movies that isn’t not afraid to be out there. This leans heavily on this over-the-top, exaggerated tone almost throughout. For me, those swings latched onto me early on. Led by Sennott and Edebiri at the top of their game, this has got to become the next cult classic.