'Bottoms' Review: Seligman's Sophmore Feature Is A Knockout Success | SXSW
Rachel Sennott stars as PJ & Ayo Edebiri as Josie in BOTTOMS. Cr. Courtesy of MGM.
Fight Club. A movie that’s captivated audiences for decades and has led to countless analyses of the film’s true meaning and what Fincher aimed for by making the film. That’s not what this review is about, but is a recurring theme throughout the second film from director Emma Seligman and co-writer/star Rachel Sennott who previously teamed up for Shiva Baby. Bottoms follows PJ (Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri of The Bear), two unpopular queer girls entering their senior year of high school, determined to hook up with the popular girls they’ve had crushes on in the hopes of losing their virginities before graduation. We open on PJ and Josie as they prepare to go to the back-to-school fair as they discuss their “plans of attack” for the year, raunchily enough to be almost offensive to certain viewers due to the characters’ ages. It’s after poor social miscommunication that their school believes that the two spent the summer in juvenile detention, with rumors flying around as to what exactly they did. Seeing how this leads their popularity to rise, the two form a female fight club in hopes of attracting the likes of their crushes, Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), with the help of their faculty advisor Mr. G (Marshawn Lynch).
(L-R) Ayo Edebiri stars as Josie, Rachel Sennott as PJ, Zamani Wilder as Annie, Summer Joy Campbell as Sylvie, Havana Rose Liu as Isabel, Kaia Gerber as Brittany & Virginia Tucker as Stella Rebecca in BOTTOMS. Cr. Courtesy of MGM.
The influences of similar films such as Not Another Teen Movie, Heathers, Bring It On, and Wet Hot American Summer are apparent, with the film heavily leaning into its satirical nature of the extremes of the genre, i.e., football players wearing full pads at all times, the school worshiping the quarterback, class ending as soon as a conversation does, and more. Most of the time, the comedy works not only due to the writing but because of the undeniable chemistry between Sennott and Edebiri, who both shine in their own ways. That said, Bottoms truly does have a fantastic ensemble cast, with each performer getting to have their moment to stand out — especially Marshawn Lynch. The energy felt coming from the entire cast in this film is electric, and it’s clear that not only is this project filled with passion, but everyone in it loves what they’re doing.
For many films of this genre, it’s very hit-or-miss when you know what they’re going to be tonally, but that’s not the case here. Within the opening scene, we understand the crude, lustful humor that remains a constant throughout and is only elevated when the main characters get to beat each other up with some of the best body comedy in recent times (particularly from Ayo Edebiri). The humor is over-the-top in all the right (and wrong) ways, somehow coming together to create what will undoubtedly be this generation’s cult-classic high-school comedy.
(L-R) Rachel Sennott stars as PJ, Havana Rose Liu as Isabel & Ayo Edebiri stars as Josie in BOTTOMS. Cr. Courtesy of MGM.
Bottoms should truly be the new standard for high school coming-of-age films not only because of the nostalgia it creates (very Superbad-esque), but because it’s simply a great movie. Every element of the film is dialed in, with a great soundtrack from Charli XCX with needle drops throughout, perfectly aiding the tone and vibes the film honors. This is the kind of movie that needs to be seen in a theater with the biggest crowd possible, preferably more than once. The constant nature of the jokes and the relentlessness of dialogue —after 90 minutes of consistent laughter— leaves you wanting, no, needing to see this movie again. Bottoms takes the best qualities of the classic high-school comedies we all have grown up with and turns them up to a 10 in the funniest way imaginable. If Seligman and Sennott team up for a film like this every few years for the foreseeable future, they clearly already have a winning formula. In a sentence, so far, Bottoms is the best movie of the year. It’s that simple.
Bottoms screened at the SXSW Film & TV Festival on March 11 and March 15.
