‘Bottoms’ review round-up: Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri start a fight club in ‘instant teen comedy classic’
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On August 25, 2023, MGM released “Bottoms,” a teen comedy starring Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri as two queer high school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation. The film was co-written by Sennott and the movie’s director, Emma Seligman. Critics have been charmed by the laffer, which holds fresh at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics consensus reads, “Propulsive and over-the-top, ‘Bottoms’ is an instant high school comedy classic that feels both current and nostalgic.”
This is the second collaboration between Sennott and Seligman following 2020’s “Shiva Baby.” The latter described it as a “campy queer high school comedy in the vein of ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ but more for a Gen-Z queer audience.” The diverse ensemble cast includes Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber and Nicholas Galitzine. Read our full review round-up below.
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SEE ‘Bottoms’ trailer: Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott start a fight club [Watch]
Drew Gillis of AV Club writes, “No one dislikes them because they’re gay, they tell us, but because they’re ‘gay and untalented.’ The script is easily one of the year’s funniest. The jokes are constant and unforced. At a brisk 92 minutes, ‘Bottoms’ moves the entire time. The film often lives somewhere between a live-action cartoon and a school play, saving the more brutal scenes from being too distasteful. The complete lawlessness of the environment also blocks the satirization of empowerment culture from feeling too pedantic. We’re spared any coming-out monologues, and the characters’ sexualities are handled refreshingly matter-of-fact.”
Jeff Nelson of Guy at the Movies says, “There’s plenty of crass humor to go around in ‘Bottoms,’ but it takes on a perspective that’s both queer and female, providing a stark contrast from the predominantly straight and male lived experiences that most of these comedies embrace. Seligman and Sennott’s story unfolds in a world that looks and feels like a dreamlike, over-the-top version of high school, but brings a camp factor to it, for better or worse. He adds, “’Bottoms’ is a delightful queer fever dream with irresistible charm and consistent laughs. It’s an entertaining gay friendship romp wrapped in the vehicle of a gay sex comedy, albeit light on emotional depth. Seligman’s follow-up doesn’t reach the levels of the brilliant ‘Shiva Baby,’ but its unserious approach to the LGBTQ high school experience will undoubtedly gain a loyal cult following.”
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Tomris Laffly of The Wrap writes, “Seligman still sticks the landing, crafting a womanly comedy that is equal parts self-aware and satirical. ‘Bottoms’ celebrates female camaraderie on the one hand, through Maria Rusche’s breezy camera and Hanna Park’s peppy editing. On the other, it remains smartly conscious of the increasingly trite meanings the term ‘female empowerment’ came to carry in the girl-boss age and the shortcomings of a certain type of feminism that uplifts some, while leaving others behind.”
Jake Kring-Schreifels of The Film Stage notes, “On a narrative level, ‘Bottoms’ follows the loose two-hander blueprint laid down by ‘Superbad’ and ‘Booksmart,’ centering two outsider best friends in their quest for a sexual encounter and higher social standing. Together, PJ (Sennot), the movie’s engine as an aggressive instigator, and Josie (Ayo Edibiri), who sweetly stammers and stumbles, set their sights on two crushes, Brittany (Gerber) and Isabel (Liu), respectively, and start scheming ways to get their attention––eventually in their pants. The stakes feel ludicrously monumental. This is a movie wherein football players walk through the halls in their shoulder pads and jerseys every day; insubordinate students get penned into cages in the corners of classrooms; and Jeff (Galitzine), the star quarterback, has his own mural resembling The Creation of Adam.”
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