‘Bottoms’ REVIEW: Revenge of the Lesbians
‘Bottoms’ REVIEW: Revenge of the Lesbians
In a film filled with excessive violence and horniness, director Emma Seligman says, "To hell with it.” Men have dominated this genre; now it's queer women's turn to get a slice of the cake, and eat it too.
Director Emma Seligman kicks off 'Bottoms' by squeezing all her key players into a classroom, laying the groundwork for a series of amusingly unpredictable developments. PJ, made unforgettable by the consistently excellent Rachel Sennott, and Josie, played by 2023's MVP Ayo Edebiri, are social pariahs, but their status is about to get worse. Rumors have been circulating that they were thrown into juvenile prison, leading to warped stories about them getting into fights and beating up fellow inmates during their time there.
In reality, the pair just want to get laid. They want sex. Sweaty, wet, dirty sex. They are horny, raunchy, and just about ready to get their fingers in places where they haven’t been.
The age-old teen comedy plot of "teenagers seeking to lose their virginity" has made a comeback of late, although not with the typical demographic you'd expect. For instance, 2019’s 'Booksmart' takes a hysterical look at the intrinsic female compulsion to break free from societal norms and indulge in untamed jubilations. Seligman’s earlier masterpiece, ‘Shiva Baby,’ delivers both gut-wrenching stress and gleeful schadenfreude as it lampoons its central character (played yet again by Sennott), placing her in grandiose situations as she tries to simply muddle her way through life and scrape together some money.
Eschewing the traditional tropes of 'American Pie,' 'National Lampoon’s,' and 'Revenge of the Nerds,' 'Bottoms' zeroes in with a distinctively queer focus. Offering a vantage point flush with fresh encounters, it would seem nearly inconceivable for a film of this nature to have emerged ten or twenty years ago. But here we stand, with Seligman and crew making no effort to rein in their audacity.
Later in that classroom sequence, we see Jeff, characterized with buoyant over-the-topness by Nicholas Galitzine, making his entrance on crutches while pretending to be injured. The student populace points fingers at PJ and Josie as the perpetrators. Seizing the moment, the two decide to amplify their growing personas as rough-and-tumble, hyper-masculine titans. It's within this image that they concoct a plan to form a fight club, ostensibly as an avenue to get physical with women they find attractive.
Then, the classroom alarm bell suddenly rings. But…it feels like they've just set foot in the classroom—maybe 30 seconds ago? What the heck? And then, to my sheer amazement, Rachel Sennott's character blurts out, "What? Class is already over? Didn't we just start?" Oh okay, it’s THAT kind of film.
It was at that very moment I realized I was queued up for a delightfully irreverent, chaotic, and ultimately memorable romp.
‘Bottoms’ has a charming premise, and it does not take it seriously in all the best, most comical ways possible. Lesbian teenagers create a Fincher-esque fight club within a school that shows almost no restraint on profanity, violence, bloodletting, and passive homophobia. For them, it's just an average Tuesday.
But what’s fascinating is that the film doesn’t let these aspects distract from its central theme of female solidarity, and well, horny women. In a film rife with over-the-top violence and horniness, Seligman essentially throws her hands up to the air, declaring, "To hell with it.” Men have had their turn dominating this genre, now it's time for queer women to have their slice of the cake, and eat it too.
Rounding out the great ensemble cast of fight club members are Hazel (Ruby Cruz), the tomboy with a headache of a mom, Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), the sparkle in Josie's eye; and Brittany (the unpredicted Kaia Gerber), the jewel in PJ's eye. All of them share an on-screen chemistry that is nothing short of stratospherically electric.
Sennott plays the role of the riotously self-centered friend in such a way that it crafts an almost surreal tension of shock and intrigue, as we hunker down in our seats eager for the next disconcertingly offensive statement she's going to make. It easily could’ve been her own film, if not for, well, Edebiri. She cements her burgeoning stardom as the introverted, hesitant, and deeply relatable lead. Her journey from initial reluctance toward the fight club to utilizing it to her advantage, and then experiencing a moment of personal evolution, is hardly original. Yet, Edebiri executes it with such nuanced warmth and meticulousness that it feels like new ground.
Marshawn Lynch as Mr. G and Miles Fowler as Tim deliver consistently laugh-inducing supporting roles, with Lynch arguably stealing the most laughs in my theater. Galitzine, too, is a delight to witness as he embraces his role's vapid caricature. A handsome face and not much more—and he sells it with spirited flair. His physical antics and fragile nature are so flawlessly absurd that you just find yourself spellbound.
Also, talk about getting goosebumps at romantic moments? Charli XCX & Leo Birenberg helm the music of the film, and they hit all the right notes to amplify scenes of pure queer enchantment. There was a moment in the film where I thought to myself: “This is it. Mainstream culture has finally embraced queer joy and catharsis.” The days when most mainstream or awards-seeking films fixated on the suffering of queer lives (Such as ‘Philadelphia,’ ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ and so on) are unequivocally behind us.
‘Bottoms' culminates in an ending so flagrantly ludicrous and unfathomably odd that not even A.I. could conjure it up. Aware that it's on the verge of jumping the shark, the film goes beyond that — it annihilates the shark, seasons it, and then grills it for a backyard Thanksgiving feast. It hijacks the traditional Hollywood third act and bathes it in a sort of queer elixir, unveiling a vibrant kaleidoscope of colors that represents the most exciting, freeing, and ingenious storytelling of the year.
This is the most fun I’ve had in movies all year.
