Bottoms (2023), directed by Emma Seligman, is an excellent addition to the pantheon of self-aware teen comedies. The film follows two lifelong friends, PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri), who are unpopular lesbians. The film makes a recurring joke that the two friends are not unpopular because they’re gay, but because they’re gay AND untalented. The other more talented gay members of the student body are treated well. It’s a great way to poke fun at modern high schools and update the humor to fit into 2020’s sensibilities. 

Anyways, these two friends are both socially awkward and have crushes on two of the most popular girls in school, Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittney (Kaia Gerber). After a series of misunderstandings perpetuated by the theatrics of the flamboyant football captain Jeff (Nicholas Galzitine) and PJ’s unwavering sarcasm, the girls find themselves starting a “fight club” for the girls of their school to protect themselves from their rival school’s violent student body. When they start this “fight club,” they realize this is the perfect opportunity to seduce their two crushes and win them over, as they spend meeting after meeting, beating each other up. The film even romanticizes a fight club meeting, complete with the bloody scrapes and tackles, as a very sexual situation with PJ and Josie smiling as they get pinned to the ground by Brittney and Isabel.

You would be correct if you think this premise sounds like a wild ride. The entire world of the film is as if a fever dream met Not Another Teen Movie (2001) in the year 2023, which is already very fever dream-ish in and of itself. The film’s humor lies in the concept’s absurdity, world, and characters. Emma Seligman’s teenage satire really has it all. There are Renaissance paintings of football players, there are students locked in cages for no discernible reason, there are bombs planted under cars and on trees, and there are misogynistic gym teachers portrayed by Super Bowl champion Marshawn Lynch. 

There’s a lot to like about this movie, but it has to be said that this film would be incomplete without the talents of Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri. Rachel Sennott, a previous collaborator with Emma Seligman in Shiva Baby (2020), has found another vehicle to stand out amongst the crowd after impressing in Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022). Ayo Edebiri, who has had an amazing year by any standard with several movies and a hit television show under her belt, comes at her role with an earnestness that she may be the funniest “straight man” character in a very surrealist comedy I’ve ever seen. Sennott and Edebiri have frequently collaborated, and their chemistry really shines through the screen. It’s not hard to buy that these are life-long friends who generally look past one another’s flaws and enjoy each other’s company – until Josie finally calls PJ out on all of her shitty behavior, especially towards their friends in the fight club. 

This comedy’s emotional core is the friendship between PJ and Josie. PJ is abrasive and a little self-important, whereas Josie is a little more righteous. However, she makes some significant mistakes, such as lying about going to juvie. Their entire relationship comes to a head when Josie can hook up with her crush, Isabel, but PJ cannot because her crush, Brittney, is straight. The two friends fight, and it seems all is lost for their friendship. Josie goes to their old babysitter, Rhodes (Punkie Johnson), to seek advice on fixing the situation. In a typical teen drama, the old babysitter might tell Josie some good advice that will cause Josie to realize how to mend the friendship and come to terms with who she is. This movie does not do that, though. 

Rhodes, instead, tells Josie that the rival high school intends to kill a member of PJ and Josie’s school’s football team during a football match. Running with this information, Josie reunites and makes up with PJ as they try to stop the rival school from murdering the football captain. The two girls also find the courage to bring together their fight club as all of the girls get to showcase the fight skills and brutality they learned against the rival football team. The end of this movie is rough, tough, and bloody – and it is HILARIOUS!

The final praise to dole out is to the production designers. This movie has a lot of more minor jokes placed all around the sets, especially the school, that it feels rewarding for the keen-eyed viewer who wants an extra chuckle from a poster in the background. The designers ensured every scene had one joke or three, and it’s something to be valued, especially in contemporary comedy films.

There’s so much more to say about this film, but it’d be a disservice to write and dissect every joke Emma Seligman inserted into Bottoms (2023). Instead, the final recommendation I have to give is that if you’re interested in teen movie parodies, surrealist comedies, or just really want to complete the Ayo Edebiri wheel of 2023, then this is the movie for you.

Review Courtesy of Tate Fowler

Feature Image credit to MGM via Variety