"The raunchy, violent lesbian comedy you didn't know you needed." -- Alex stullman, 8th grade
In light of the writer’s strike fresh in everyone’s memory, many movies were actually released during the dry period, however went unnoticed, as the advertising was worse than Trumps spray-tan. One of these underappreciated films was the raunchy comedy, Bottoms.
Now, this movie had a very small theatrical release, playing in only select theaters, and only had one trailer that was like, only played as a Youtube ad. Also, no one in the cast is a super big star that can sell it, unlike Barbie’s star-studded cast, or Killers of the Flower Moon with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese. Bottoms had Nicholas Galitzine, who was featured in movies such as: the gay rom-com Red, White and Royal Blue as the main interest, and Netflix’s Purple Hearts, which is one movie I try not to think about, ever. So he’s pretty well known by the queer community, which is lucky, because that’s the main demographic of Bottoms. The film also has former running-back, Oakland’s own Marshawn Lynch, who delivers a mostly-improvised performance that you can’t help but chuckle at.
Bottoms focuses on PJ (Rachel Senott) and her best friend of many years, Josie (Ayo Edebiri), two unpopular, lovable lesbians who just want to “get some” before they’re shipped off to college. The film starts off very strong, with the two friends exchanging some witty banter while also revealing pretty much all of the exposition. I feel like in a lot of films, the exposition is kind of just necessary, and feels a bit tedious to sit through. But in Bottoms, when Edebiri, as Josie, is explaining the duo’s trials (while trying to get some cheerleaders to like them), she does it in such a charmingly awkward way that introduces her character in this really great light. Actually, in general throughout the film, Edibiri does such an amazing job portraying this flawed, horny, awkward anxiety-ridden lesbian that you wonder as the audience if they really did just get a random high-schooler to star in this movie.
In order to get Brittany (Kaia Jordan Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) to get with them, PJ and Josie lean into a rumor that was started about them that they, uh, went to juvie and killed girls. When they accidentally hit Isabel’s psycho footballer boyfriend with a car, in order to get out of expulsion, they start a fight club. (I don’t get the logic either, just go with it.) Much chaos and silliness ensues, and it’s all fun and games until everything falls apart and all ties to reality are completely severed.
Now, I don’t want to completely spoil the film, because everyone reading this should definitely go and watch it wherever they can, if they can. (This meaning the movie is a bit more adult, containing much swearing, sexual jokes, and violence, though no explicit sex outright, thank God.)
I think what Bottoms does right that a lot of teen/comedy movies nowadays lack, is that it never became too much. Yes, it’s very raunchy and many jokes are pretty dumb, but it never makes you look at what the actors are doing and feel bad for them. Take Bridesmaids, for example. Great movie, really well made, it's got a great cast and it’s really funny, except in some scenes, (you know which ones) when it just sort of became a bit hard to watch. It wasn’t something I personally thought was funny, just a bit gross. Unless you’re someone who thinks senseless violence is gross, (why would you?) Bottoms never does that. Most of the jokes are fairly subtle and smart. It’s like the film executives worried less about what audiences thought, and more about how they could make this movie something that they would enjoy.
Many negative reviews of Bottoms said that the film was a try-hard comedy, like one from the New Yorker, stating, “Though “Bottoms” gave me a few laughs through sheer relentlessness of effort, it’s seriously style-challenged, not least because it tries so hard.” And while this colorful, campy, violent film may not be for everyone, one thing it was not was try-hard. Watching it never felt like a task, a box to tick. It was pure fun to watch, reminiscent of classic teen movies such as Heathers and Scott Pilgrim VS. The World, with the improv feel of films like The Breakfast Club and Superbad.
Also, Bottoms handles the subject of queers, seeing as the two main characters are lesbians, really well. Never once in this film did I listen to something PJ or Josie said and wince at some casual homophobia, which was very refreshing. Hats off to you, Rachel Senott and Emma Seligman, for you have made a great film!
Now, this movie had a very small theatrical release, playing in only select theaters, and only had one trailer that was like, only played as a Youtube ad. Also, no one in the cast is a super big star that can sell it, unlike Barbie’s star-studded cast, or Killers of the Flower Moon with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese. Bottoms had Nicholas Galitzine, who was featured in movies such as: the gay rom-com Red, White and Royal Blue as the main interest, and Netflix’s Purple Hearts, which is one movie I try not to think about, ever. So he’s pretty well known by the queer community, which is lucky, because that’s the main demographic of Bottoms. The film also has former running-back, Oakland’s own Marshawn Lynch, who delivers a mostly-improvised performance that you can’t help but chuckle at.
Bottoms focuses on PJ (Rachel Senott) and her best friend of many years, Josie (Ayo Edebiri), two unpopular, lovable lesbians who just want to “get some” before they’re shipped off to college. The film starts off very strong, with the two friends exchanging some witty banter while also revealing pretty much all of the exposition. I feel like in a lot of films, the exposition is kind of just necessary, and feels a bit tedious to sit through. But in Bottoms, when Edebiri, as Josie, is explaining the duo’s trials (while trying to get some cheerleaders to like them), she does it in such a charmingly awkward way that introduces her character in this really great light. Actually, in general throughout the film, Edibiri does such an amazing job portraying this flawed, horny, awkward anxiety-ridden lesbian that you wonder as the audience if they really did just get a random high-schooler to star in this movie.
In order to get Brittany (Kaia Jordan Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) to get with them, PJ and Josie lean into a rumor that was started about them that they, uh, went to juvie and killed girls. When they accidentally hit Isabel’s psycho footballer boyfriend with a car, in order to get out of expulsion, they start a fight club. (I don’t get the logic either, just go with it.) Much chaos and silliness ensues, and it’s all fun and games until everything falls apart and all ties to reality are completely severed.
Now, I don’t want to completely spoil the film, because everyone reading this should definitely go and watch it wherever they can, if they can. (This meaning the movie is a bit more adult, containing much swearing, sexual jokes, and violence, though no explicit sex outright, thank God.)
I think what Bottoms does right that a lot of teen/comedy movies nowadays lack, is that it never became too much. Yes, it’s very raunchy and many jokes are pretty dumb, but it never makes you look at what the actors are doing and feel bad for them. Take Bridesmaids, for example. Great movie, really well made, it's got a great cast and it’s really funny, except in some scenes, (you know which ones) when it just sort of became a bit hard to watch. It wasn’t something I personally thought was funny, just a bit gross. Unless you’re someone who thinks senseless violence is gross, (why would you?) Bottoms never does that. Most of the jokes are fairly subtle and smart. It’s like the film executives worried less about what audiences thought, and more about how they could make this movie something that they would enjoy.
Many negative reviews of Bottoms said that the film was a try-hard comedy, like one from the New Yorker, stating, “Though “Bottoms” gave me a few laughs through sheer relentlessness of effort, it’s seriously style-challenged, not least because it tries so hard.” And while this colorful, campy, violent film may not be for everyone, one thing it was not was try-hard. Watching it never felt like a task, a box to tick. It was pure fun to watch, reminiscent of classic teen movies such as Heathers and Scott Pilgrim VS. The World, with the improv feel of films like The Breakfast Club and Superbad.
Also, Bottoms handles the subject of queers, seeing as the two main characters are lesbians, really well. Never once in this film did I listen to something PJ or Josie said and wince at some casual homophobia, which was very refreshing. Hats off to you, Rachel Senott and Emma Seligman, for you have made a great film!
