bottoms

Film, 2023, 2.5 stars

Directed by: Emma Seligman
Written by: Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott

Did I like this movie? No. Not at all. Not even a little bit. However, I’m also self-aware enough to realise that I am not in any way the target demographic. If you’re young, or just love cringe or “loser” comedy, then I’m sure this rollicking, high-spirited, somewhat insane bit of silliness will be just your thing. Think of a lesbian version of all those silly hetero comedies about losing your virginity to the person of your dreams, from Porky’s, through American Pie, and everything in between.

That being said, if you make a like for like comparison with Bottoms and something like Booksmart, or even Crush, there’s night and day between them in terms of writing and establishing any kind of emotional connection. Still, there’s plenty of nerdy, funny queer kids out there who will feel completely seen by this.

So – here’s the deal in case you’ve been living under a rock and are not quite sure what all this madness is about. PJ (co-writer Rachel Sennott) and Josie (the always-great even in things that aren’t worthy of her Ayo Edibiri) are best friends lusting after a couple of cheerleaders. (Isn’t the cheerleader thing done to death? Just saying.)

After a weird misunderstanding involving a football player (Nicolas Galitzine who is everywhere right now) they are mistaken for badasses and proceed to try and get the girls by starting their own fight-club-like-self-defense thing. The first rule of this club is that everyone must talk about it, or else how will people know they are now cool? Only, it spirals out of control, especially once the loopy Hazel (our first lesbian Disney princess Ruby Cruz) and other madcap girls get involved.

Radical feminist empowerment this is not. Just by adding queer people to a story doesn’t make it higher brow, less insane, or even comprehensible. The plot swings wildly for the fences and is oddly violent for a high school movie. Look, I love a good Total Eclipse of the Heart sequence as much as anyone, and honestly this is easily the best scene in this film, but even that wasn’t enough to stop the twitch I had to fast forward constantly through the ickier, skin-crawling awkwardness, which I admit I also have a low tolerance for.

I get it though, lesbians and queer people deserve their trash as much as anyone. It was high time we started getting our fair share of this genre, and I’m utterly glad it exists for that reason alone. This is going to be great for queer kids who are crying out for representation in high school (but hey, maybe watch Clea Duvall’s High School series instead? I’m pretty sure at this point everyone missed it) or anyone who is tired of overblown and serious queer cinema. Everything doesn’t have to be life or death.

Bottoms relies on fast-paced cuts and constant, almost stream of consciousness dialogue. It zigs and zags so fast that most of the actually funny, incisive humour gets completely lost in the muck. Yes, it’s just comedy. Yes, it’s for getting drunk (OK maybe not if you’re a high schooler) and eating pizza and geeking out on a Saturday night with your other queer friends. See it in a crowd for sure, that way I’m sure the jokes land differently.

But the way some serious lesbian critics, and even many straight ones, have been fawning over Bottoms it made me anticipate some kind of second coming of lesbian Jesus. I’ve even read that it “flips the script” on the genre. It doesn’t. It falls into the same well-worn tropes as all the others. It’s not a great film—it’s just a silly way to while away some time and has not progressed the cause of queer cinema forward one inch. My issue is that I think maybe it was meant to.

I feel justified in giving this effort from Emma Seligman a lower score than perhaps others in the world have been doing, but I recognise that many have and will violently disagree, as is always the way with trying to assess the merit of this genre generally. Go in knowing it’s an absurd, unhinged, horny-as-fuck, nutty thing that devolves into absolute chaotic plot hell. Relax, have fun with it, and if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll love it.