PJ and Josie are unpopular high school friends looking to hook up with other girls. When rumors begin circulating that they spent last summer in juvie, they're able to parlay that into the creation of an after school club for "female empowerment" (aka, a Fight Club), where they'll be able to interact with the girls they're crushing after. But one of the football players is so upset with this disruption of the popularity status quo that he makes it his mission to destroy the pair.
One incredibly brief elevator pitch of this movie might be that it's American Pie for lesbians. That's basically what I expected as I was sitting down to watch; I hadn't even known that it came from writer-director Emma Seligman and writer-star Rachel Sennott, who previously collaborated on the indie darling Shiva Baby. (That movie wasn't really "for me," but left me open to the idea of them doing something more comedy-forward.)
But while you think you may know where the movie is going to zig, it zags instead. Hard. Where the typical teen sex comedy goes for laughs with over-the-top nudity or (as the content label might say) "sexual situations," Bottoms surprises by going for violence. When I said the main characters start a Fight Club, that's literal: a bloody, David-Fincher-referencing Fight Club. It's a clearly calculated juxtaposition to put a group of young women into that kind of story, and the resulting shock value is kind of hilarious: the movie has several laugh out loud moments.
That said, Bottoms also isn't built like the typical sex comedy in that it isn't really bouncing from set piece to set piece. The movie cares about the emotions of its characters in a way that this movie genre usually does only superficially at best. It's never really at risk of becoming a "drama" -- the world of Bottoms is not strictly realistic. (For one thing, the football players wear their full game gear at all times, seemingly having no other clothes or even identity.) But laughs aren't the only thing the movie is after. Maybe not even the main thing.
The cast is solid. Besides Rachel Sennott (who was great in Bodies Bodies Bodies), there's Ayo Edebiri and (from the fun but ill-fated Willow) Ruby Cruz. And in a weirdly funny turn, there's Marshawn Lynch (yes, the football player) as the strange teacher who sponsors the school club. Generally, it feels like one of those movies where, 10 years from now, you'll be shocked to remember/discover that someone now famous had a small role here.
I give Bottoms a B. Without (I hope) building too much hype for it, I think it's a pretty fun twist on an old boys' club formula.
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