Bottoms directed by Emma Seligman is the slap happy comedy the film industry needed, what 18-year-olds and mid twenty-somethings desired and what funny young lesbians who wanted to be seen finally got.
PJ (co-writer and executive producer Rachel Sennott), and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) start a self-defense women empowerment club as a front to lose their virginities to cheerleaders. Lies are told and blood is shed along the way, after all it is a fight club.
I knew I was going to want to review this film as soon as it opened. I booked the first showtime I could and sat in a packed theater with a clear demographic, young, funny and a tad gay. I went in not laughing, I wasn’t enjoying myself because I was like, “I need to review this, look for critiques. Look for holes!” The movie continued and one liner after one liner I scoffed, I giggled but as everyone else around me was laughing, I was pretending to be this pretentious film connoisseur. Movies are made to take you out of a reality you’re in. I needed to relax. I wasn’t watching the actual Fight Club, I was watching a raunchy comedy about high school. Now if something made me laugh, dammit I laughed. My experience became one of the most fun movie-going outings I’ve had all year, maybe even since theaters began to reopen.
This film is not afraid to go to the dark side of comedy. One line I actually gasped then laughed a little awkwardly because I was not expecting a word so harsh. Once you see it, once you hear it, you’ll know and it’ll bring us closer together. The writing is full of hit or miss one liners where one might provoke hysterical laughter from the audience while the next might get crickets.
Edebri, known for her performance as Sydney Adamu in FX’s The Bear, delivers perfect comedic timing playing off lines she delivers earlier herself. She’s not afraid to get weird and her tone of voice changes when talking for so long making her character sound stressed at all times.
Sennott on the other hand is a force to reckon with but her character lacks development and any emotion. PJ is stone cold, harsh and selfish which combines well with Josie’s characteristics. In and of herself, she is hard to care about. But Sennott co-wrote this film with director Seligman and that’s where she shines.
Seligman also wrote and directed the 2020 indie drama Shiva Baby which also starred Sennott. Shiva Baby is a complete turnaround from this film and I love when directors and writers have the versatility that Seligman has. Her writing is hilarious, bold and unconventional while her directing is smooth, anxious and detailed.
The film lacks originality in the way every high-school comedy does but it stands out because of the true comedy this is. This film is actually funny. If an audience member goes in looking for a nice laugh instead of maybe actual Fight Club they will be thoroughly pleased, as was I. The ensemble of characters has everything, I’ll use their words: “untalented gays”, “Black Republican”, “losers”, and of course there are “hot ones”. This band of misfits can do nothing but stand with each other to provide a loving comedy about female solidarity that gets bloody.
Will Bottoms be studied at a highbrow university in 20 years, probably not. It’s not Scarface (maybe in some ways), it’s not Casablanca, but it’s 100% a certified gay cult classic. It’s like Booksmart directed by Olivia Wilde if Booksmart was actually funny, good or well-written. Maggie Carrey’s The To-Do List is a better comparison because it’s funny, satirical and about getting some. I could have gone farther in depth, in stricter detail about character development or how I guessed the entire plot because it’s a script with a backbone that’s been done a million times but this movie is just fun. Don’t be like me. Or even worse, don’t be an asshole dissecting Bottoms to your date.
I don’t want to give too much away but if one thing is to be taken away from this post is movie-goers need to unclench, relax and enjoy some crazy scenarios presented by witty writers. Unclench of course, you’ll be sitting for an hour and a half for a movie titled Bottoms.
Bottoms screens starting Thursday, August 31st.
Thursday, Aug 31st – 10:15pm
Friday, Sep 1st – 2:30pm, 5:15pm, 7:30pm
Saturday, Sep 2nd – 12:45pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 7:45pm
Sunday, Sep 3rd – 12:45pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 7:45pm
Monday, Sep 4th – 12:45pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 7:45pm
Tuesday, Sep 5th – 12:45pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 7:45pm
Wednesday, Sep 6th – 12:45pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 7:45pm
Thursday, Sep 7th – 12:45pm, 3pm, 5;30pm, 7:45pm
Tickets