By BRIGID PARKER
A deliciously on-the-nose spoof of the paradigm horny high school comedy, Emma Seligman’s Bottoms follows PJ and Josie’s (played by Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri, respectively) pursuit to lose their virginities before college. Unfortunately, the self proclaimed “ugly, untalented gays” have their sights set on two cheerleaders barely cognizant of their existence. When attempting to strike up conversation with their crushes proves unsuccessful, PJ decides on a more underhand approach; an after school fight club, which wins the approval of the school’s principal only when the girls disguise it as a way of empowering female students.
Boasting fabricated stories of juvie brawls from the previous summer, PJ and Josie lead the newly formed fight club, consisting of other gays, outcasts, and to everyone’s surprise, the protagonists’ cheerleader love interests. Before long, the club becomes something bigger than a group of girl’s bloodying each other’s faces in their high school gymnasium. The young women bond over their need for learning self defense, citing parental abuse and gray-area sexual assault as motives. As the group continues to get closer, our horny protagonists are thrilled as their dream of wooing their crushes is now within reach.
Of course, no satirical high school sex comedy is complete without the ever-looming buildup to The Big Game. The bit is played up fabulously. The football players are never seen out of their uniforms (pads and everything), and the delightfully airheaded captain, Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine) is worshiped by the entire school, appearing on posters displayed in the background of nearly every scene, instructing students to “GET HORNY”. The explosively campy and bloodsoaked final resolution certainly warrants the buildup, as I felt myself put my hand to my mouth at least three or four times throughout the sequence. But, funnily enough, I didn’t find myself questioning any of it considering the absurdity of all aspects of this film.
The comedic chemistry between Sennott and Edebiri is dynamic and irresistible, making their performance as the classic confrontational, assertive, borderline asshole and their awkward, mousy best friend trope hilariously convincing. I would go as far as to say it rivals that of Jonah Hill and Michael Cera in Superbad. The movie’s over-the-top humor is well placed throughout the movie and never feels like it’s trying too hard. I also have to applaud the film’s writers, Seligman and Sennott, for the included pop-culture references, all of which I thought landed incredibly well, which is not an easy feat considering the broad range of niche interests shared by so many gay Gen Z’ers.
Though it is clear from the beginning that Bottoms is not meant as any sort of vehicle for social commentary, I still enjoyed the statement this movie makes about allies and queer women alike abusing language of inclusion, empowerment and “sisterhood” for their own selfish gains. I thought this point could have landed a wee bit better if we saw PJ, the creator of the whole horny, self-serving scheme and arguably the movie’s biggest bully, face any real pushback, but, in the interest of supporting women’s wrongs, I digress.
This movie rules. It’s a gay movie that doesn’t get caught up in trying to make a statement about gayness; there are no dramatic coming out scenes, no violent, homophobic bullying, just young gay women being horny, selfish and oftentimes, straight up horrible in the same way that so many male characters before them have been allowed without question.
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