‘Bottoms’ movie review: a stylishly silly high-school comedy
Since the release of her 2020 feature Shiva Baby, it has been clear to most followers of the contemporary cinematic landscape that Emma Seligman is a major comedic talent. The burgeoning filmmaker has collaborated with Rachel Sennott once again to deliver a stand-out comedy, also featuring none other than The Bear star Ayo Edebiri. The result is a fun, queer, modern take on the nostalgia associated with the high-school comedy, reviving the genre with fresh blood.
While Shiva Baby oscillated between the distinct frameworks of horror and comedy to create a unique narrative atmosphere, Bottoms delves deep into the traditions of American comedy while trying to process its current identity. Starring Sennott and Edebiri as PJ and Josie, two lesbian high-school friends who are completely focused on losing their virginity, Seligman’s latest feature follows their misadventures as they embark on a hilarious quest of lies and lust.
If you’re already thinking of Superbad, you’re not far off because Bottoms is not ashamed to cite its influences at every step of the way. It’s a modern update to the immense legacy Greg Mottola’s seminal comedy has left behind while also engaging with the sociopolitical as well as aesthetic foundations of the Y2K comedic oeuvre. Along the way, it somehow manages to revamp Fight Club by turning it into an after-school activity for horny high-schoolers.
In order to get the attention of the cheerleaders they have massive crushes on, PJ and Josie lean into the crazy rumour that they had spent the summer in juvie and start a “feminist self-defence” group. Recruiting the misfits, as well as the popular cheerleaders they like, starts out as a sleazy trick, but they end up forming meaningful bonds that change their outlook on life and teaches them a form of feminism that is rooted in praxis.
Sennot has previously starred in a similar project called Tahara, but what sets Bottom apart is not only Seligman’s direction. It is also her central pairing with Edebiri, who previously collaborated on multiple projects for Comedy Central. The two of them never miss a beat, especially Edebiri, who is undoubtedly the soul of the project. Given the intensity of her dramatic work in The Bear, it’s not an overstatement at all to say that she is one of the most interesting young actors working today.
Another major reason why Bottoms works is because of Seligman’s emphasis on physical comedy, deviating from the dialogue-heavy melodramatic additions to the genre put out by Netflix. This is a high-school comedy where a car is bombed to the tune of ‘Total Eclipse in the Heart’, where an athlete is impaled on a sword during a football game in the middle of the field, where a massacre is cheered on by a sentimental American crowd. This is the grit and visual flair that modern comedy so desperately needs.
Bottoms could have been more than it is, but it doesn’t need to be. Seligman’s new movie is stylishly silly and is completely unapologetic about it.
Watch the trailer below.
