The term "new classic" has been brandished to the point of exhaustion. Yet, if any film is deserving of that lofty moniker, it's Emma Seligman's feisty new entry into the high school comedy canon, Bottoms (her follow-up to the masterful cringe comedy Shiva Baby). Like the greats of the genre, namely Heathers and Mean Girls, Bottoms lampoons the inherent tropes, but does so with such reckless abandon that it cements an identity all its own, creating an uncanny, surreal high school setting that deftly taps into the complexities that pervade the modern teen experience.
The film centres on "gay and untalented" high school seniors Josie (Ayo Edebiri) and PJ (Rachel Sennott in arguably her best performance), friends with only sex on the mind. The two mistakenly give weight to a rumour that they spent the summer in juvenile detention, something they double down on with an accidental vehicular run-in with the much-worshipped quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine).
With the homecoming game on the horizon, which has been bizarrely promoted as a violent event, the two friends dream up the idea of a women's self-defence club, a shoddy scheme they hope will allow them to do what football players have been doing for eons: hook up with cheerleaders. As their plan gets bloodier and more out of control, Josie and PJ struggle to achieve what they first set out to accomplish and unintentionally giving women a space to finally be heard.
The high school atmosphere Seligman conjures is so exaggerated and absurd, it manifests as Glee in a twisted parallel universe where teachers never bat an eye at their students' use of profanity (often engaging in it themselves) and pep rallies order students to "get horny." Bottoms might sound complacent and downright insufferable, but it's far from it. Instead, it operates as a live-action cartoon that is both delectably campy and wonderfully endearing.
Bottoms' bizarre form of logic is its greatest strength, which single-handedly saves the film's lively satire of "woke" empowerment culture from becoming too didactic. Its allegiance to farce allows the movie to strike a perfect balance between commentary and comedy, especially in its treatment of sexuality — the only element that is made refreshingly down-to-earth.
The free-flowing stream of chaos throughout the film is natural and allows each gag and one-liner to feel unforced, regardless of how violent or berserk it is. At a brisk 92 minutes, Bottoms is an experience that maintains its delirious momentum, refusing to lull even when the plot threatens to become stale.
Though Sennott and Edebiri get equal billing, Edebiri's Josie is the most fleshed out, which is as much a result of her innate comedic skills as it is the quality of the script. The supporting cast shines in their respective roles, with characters like Hazel (Ruby Cruz), Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Gerber) lamenting their stereotypical labels. Athlete-turned-actor Marshawn Lynch, as Mr. G., surprises with his knack for comedic timing, often delivering the film's best one-liners.
The film shamelessly deconstructs the most tried-and-true tropes of high school movies with great effect, all the while never losing its heart. A glitzy, pastel-laced score by Charli XCX and Leo Birenberg underpins Bottoms, rendering the film's fever dream world all the more inviting. In an age where theatrically released, feature-length adult comedies are the exception rather than the norm, Bottoms is a celebratory experience that's emblematic of the best of its genre while also brazenly forging its own path.
(Warner Bros. Pictures)The film centres on "gay and untalented" high school seniors Josie (Ayo Edebiri) and PJ (Rachel Sennott in arguably her best performance), friends with only sex on the mind. The two mistakenly give weight to a rumour that they spent the summer in juvenile detention, something they double down on with an accidental vehicular run-in with the much-worshipped quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine).
With the homecoming game on the horizon, which has been bizarrely promoted as a violent event, the two friends dream up the idea of a women's self-defence club, a shoddy scheme they hope will allow them to do what football players have been doing for eons: hook up with cheerleaders. As their plan gets bloodier and more out of control, Josie and PJ struggle to achieve what they first set out to accomplish and unintentionally giving women a space to finally be heard.
The high school atmosphere Seligman conjures is so exaggerated and absurd, it manifests as Glee in a twisted parallel universe where teachers never bat an eye at their students' use of profanity (often engaging in it themselves) and pep rallies order students to "get horny." Bottoms might sound complacent and downright insufferable, but it's far from it. Instead, it operates as a live-action cartoon that is both delectably campy and wonderfully endearing.
Bottoms' bizarre form of logic is its greatest strength, which single-handedly saves the film's lively satire of "woke" empowerment culture from becoming too didactic. Its allegiance to farce allows the movie to strike a perfect balance between commentary and comedy, especially in its treatment of sexuality — the only element that is made refreshingly down-to-earth.
The free-flowing stream of chaos throughout the film is natural and allows each gag and one-liner to feel unforced, regardless of how violent or berserk it is. At a brisk 92 minutes, Bottoms is an experience that maintains its delirious momentum, refusing to lull even when the plot threatens to become stale.
Though Sennott and Edebiri get equal billing, Edebiri's Josie is the most fleshed out, which is as much a result of her innate comedic skills as it is the quality of the script. The supporting cast shines in their respective roles, with characters like Hazel (Ruby Cruz), Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Gerber) lamenting their stereotypical labels. Athlete-turned-actor Marshawn Lynch, as Mr. G., surprises with his knack for comedic timing, often delivering the film's best one-liners.
The film shamelessly deconstructs the most tried-and-true tropes of high school movies with great effect, all the while never losing its heart. A glitzy, pastel-laced score by Charli XCX and Leo Birenberg underpins Bottoms, rendering the film's fever dream world all the more inviting. In an age where theatrically released, feature-length adult comedies are the exception rather than the norm, Bottoms is a celebratory experience that's emblematic of the best of its genre while also brazenly forging its own path.
