The premise of Bottoms, the new teen sex comedy from writer/director Ella Seligman (Shiva Baby) starring Rachel Sennott (Bodies, Bodies, Bodies) and Ayo Edibiri (FX’s The Bear), pretty much says it all: a pair of teen girls start a fight club to combat the rampant bro vibe of their high school. But really, it’s all about hooking up with the hottest cheerleaders. Raunchy, rude, and hilarious, is this the best dark comedy movie since Michael Lehmann’s seminal 80s cult classic Heathers? or at least Alexander Payne’s Election? Easily. As this summer had no shortage of raunchy comedies, Bottoms tops No Hard Feelings and Joy Ride as the film most expected to be re-watched over and over.
In the fictional midwestern town of Rockbridge Falls, football is the name of the game. As they enter their senior year, best pals PJ (Sennot) and Josie (Edibiri) make the startling revelation there’s a good chance they’ll enter college next year with their V-cards intact. It’s not because their small town is homophobic, as plenty of gay teens are pretty popular. No, they are, as Principal Meyers (Wayne Pére) describes indelicately, “the ugly, untalented gays.” Josie’s crush, Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), is dating Jeff (Red, White & Royal Blue’s Nicholas Galitzine), the ultimate quarterback dumb dumb. PJ’s crush, Brittany (Kaia Gerber), is Isabel’s BFF. How can two socially awkward teens with no athletic abilities stand out in such a world?
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Two words: fight club. What starts as a silly scheme to get physical with “only the hot ones” quickly spirals out of control à la Heathers‘ teen suicide or Election’s, um, election. By the end, both the hots and the nots will get plenty bloodied. And they’ll like it! While the onscreen violence is balanced with humor, Bottoms earns its R-rating.
Such a high concept needs a much broader tone than writer/director Emma Seligman’s last film, the hilarious but more grounded Shiva Baby. Here, the script by Seligman and Sennott has the feel of today’s GenZ teen reality amped up to a more twisted and satirical level. The tone also allows the talented cast to be richly layered with inner lives when needed or just as easily summed up by a single line of dialogue or an outfit. Gerber (FX’s American Horror Story), in particular, shines as the hottest gal at Rockbridge, performing in a less-is-more approach. She knows not to play up the camp factor, opting instead to play it straight. Thus, Brittany’s a cheerleader who packs quite a punch.
While the whole cast is excellent, they’re even bigger standouts. Ruby Cruz (Disney+’s Willow) Hazel is the real heart of the film. She fulfills the same feeling that Sabrina Wu’s Deadeye did in Joy Ride. A person whose lack of social skills makes her easy to laugh at but eventually care about too. She’s the third wheel to PJ and Josie’s think tank. By far, the best surprise is Marshawn Lynch as a teacher roped into being the fight club’s supervisor. Again, like Gerber’s deadpan delivery, Lynch nails being funny by playing his role as such a clueless adult regarding gender roles, feminism, all of it.
A brief history: Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edibiri met at NYU, quickly becoming improv partners. Three years ago, Ayo and Rachel Are Single debuted on Comedy Central (all three shorts can be found on YouTube). A lot of what works so well in Bottoms can be seen in these videos as a kind of beta version. Sennott is not afraid to look goofy or, even better, downright unlikable. By contrast, Edibiri is the more neurotic of the two, whose brain always seems to be working overtime. They’re an unbeatable comic duo. Bottoms is the perfect first big-screen outing for them. Do we care that they’re both 27 playing 17-year-olds? Heck no. (In fact, most of the cast is north of 25.)
Some choice music drops work surprisingly well. 80s one-hit wonder Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is an apt theme song for vandalizing a home (poorly) and an unexpected explosion. Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” should feel on the nose, but the script is too clever to ever let us think that. Alongside the music, the colorful costumes that are close enough to But I’m a Cheerleader! work to highlight the humor for a film that leans pretty effectively into broadly satirical territory.
Here’s hoping Bottoms will be just one of many films (or perhaps even a series?) from Ella Seligman, Rachel Sennott, and Ayo Edebiri.
Bottoms opens in select theaters on August 25, 2023.
