You’d think with the never-ending stream of movies being released nowadays that it wouldn’t be a struggle to find something to watch. Still, the struggle is real, and I found myself twitching to watch something new (as opposed to all the teen dramas I play on repeat). So when I heard about a highschool lesbian comedy that was playing in theatres near me, I knew I had to see it.
The movie is a raunchy highschool comedy called Bottoms. IMDB’s website provides a brief overview of what it’s about, describing it as “Two unpopular queer high school students start a fight club to have sex before graduation.”
Something I loved about this movie was the to-the-point humour that was present throughout the film. There are a few scenes that poke fun at the improbability of the movies plot. As a viewer, it’s crucial that you suspend disbelief when watching this movie because the plot quickly translates from realistic to absurdly far-fetched within a few short scenes.
The attention to details were, in my opinion, what made this movie so entertaining to watch. In the background of a few scenes, for example, there are posters that encourage students to ‘get horny’ for the upcoming pep-rally. It was details like that which kept me paying attention. I definitely need a second watch (ideally one where I can use the pause function) so I can find all the little jokes built into this world.
This being a comedy and all, there are a whole lot of punchline and slapstick jokes (which were almost all successful at making me laugh). In a few of the club meeting and class scenes, the actors comment on how short class is (by breaking the fourth wall) — making fun at the obviously improbably short scenes. Unsurprisingly, due to the raunchy elements of the movie and it’s naughty language that loved using excessive swearing, the movie does have an ‘R’ rating.
A bonus about this film is that unlike other recent releases — I’m looking at you Oppenheimer — the run-time of this film is short, going for an hour and thirty-one minutes.
Bottoms is one of those movies that explicitly relies heavily on stereotypes. From the brain-dead horny jock, the straight cheerleader, to that one kid that knows how to make a bomb and more, there is no lack of one-dimensional characters. Though this movie is explicitly making fun of these tired cliches, I did find myself wanting more character development in our main cast. (Big possibility that I’ve over-analysing too much here). Typically in a movie you want likeable main characters, and I found myself more annoyed than not at the protagonist PJ.
I definitely see myself watching this film again in the future. It’s got all the elements of a great comedy through and through. I think it’s damn good.
Cast Run-Down!
There were some actors that I wasn’t expecting to see. If anyone has watched the Disney+ series The Bear, then actress Ayo Edebiri is someone you will recognize. In the movie, she plays one of the lesbian protagonists “Josie” who is responsible for starting the fight club.
The other lead gal “PJ” is played by Rachel Senott, who started in the 2022 film Bodies Bodies Bodies alongside mega-celebrity Pete Davidson.
While writing this article I was searching up the main cast to see what work they’ve done previously and was VERY surprised to find that the teacher sponsor in the movie is played by Marshawn Lynch who is an American football running back. If there are any Seahawks fans in the house, you should know who I’m talking about.
Some other brief shoutouts on the main cast. There is Kaia Gerber, daughter of Cindy Crawford who acted in Babylon, which was released in 2022 with a star-studded cast. Then there’s British actor Nicholas Galitzine who stars in the recently released book-adapted film Red, White and Royal Blue which now streaming on Amazon Prime. Finally, there’s actress Ruby Cruz who played Princess Kit in the series Willows.