General Information
Directed by – Emma Seligman
Written by – Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott
Starring – Rachel Sennott (PJ), Ayo Edebiri (Josie), Ruby Cruz (Hazel), Havana Rose Liu (Isabel), Kaia Gerber (Brittany), Nicholas Galitzine (Jeff), Miles Fowler (Tim), and Marshawn Lynch (Mr. G)
Synopsis – To avoid getting in trouble while also trying to get with their crushes, best friends PJ and Josie start a fight club for girls at their school who are afraid of the rival school the football team is playing, leaving the duo with a newfound popularity the jocks are not happy with.
Where to Watch – In Theaters
Review
2023 seems to be not just the year for raunchy comedies, but raunchy comedies starring and about women. We have lived through years of “Hangover”s and “Ted”s, but now is the time for women to be at the front of these ridiculous kinds of stories. High school and young adult females deserve to have their crazy antics shown on the big screen and “Bottoms” is another great entry to end the summer with.
The main premise of this movie is that the best friend duo of PJ (Sennott) and Josie (Edebiri) want to sleep with their crushes before they head off to college. All of the performances from the cast are outstanding as they are as crazy and deadpan that fits with the tone of the film. Sennott and Edebiri have amazing chemistry as best friends that if you told me they have known each other their whole lives I would absolutely believe you. Sometimes, friend characters do not vibe with each other as much as they should but that is not a problem with these two. They bounce off of each other’s energy in the best way possible, leaving room for some of the funniest moments between friends I have seen in film all year. They also bring that awkward-around-your-crush cringe-worthy moments that had me reflecting on how I was as a young adult trying to find love. Without the two of them, this film would not be as funny and enjoyable as it is.
The rest of the cast is also bringing all of the energy a film like this needs. The crushes of Isabel (Liu) and Brittany (Gerber) play on the stereotypical roles of popular girls by making them have those traditional aspects of the character but also making sure they get development throughout the film. You get to know more about them as people while they also continue to play into the popular cheerleader role we have seen so many times before. Speaking of stereotypical roles, we have two traditional football characters in Jeff (Galitzine) and Tim (Fowler). Not only do they have this role of being the manly football players the entire school looks up to, they take it to the greatest extreme. Their characters are laughable about how ridiculous they can be and Galitzine and Fowler are the only ones that could have pulled it off. You expect them to be football players but they are just so much more and I love every second they are on screen. Each of the club members bring their own chaotic energy to the mix that never ends until the credits roll. The standout is the third-in-command Hazel (Cruz), who is so dedicated to the club and not in on the plot like PJ and Josie are. Then we end with the club advisor Mr. G (Lynch), recruited to be that advisor who would never show up but ends up becoming the new proponent of feminism. Lynch is another athlete-turned-actor and surprisingly brings so much to his character that I cannot wait to see what he is in next. Each of these actors matches their characters perfectly and makes for great cast chemistry, something that can make or break a film like this. And it is thanks to their performances that the film performs the way that it does and has instantly become a classic in the teen girl genre of movies.
The other strong point of the film that brought this from potential cringe to enjoyably laughable, where you can feel for the characters while also understanding that what they did was wrong and should not have been done. The script, written by Seligman and Sennott, is able to deliver some of the most chaotic lines that could have been unfunny if done incorrectly, and while not everything worked for me and it did try a little too hard in places, the majority of it will have you laughing. There is an ending that I was not expecting because of how absolutely ridiculous it is, but it works with the movie and how they are trying to approach the subject. There is a moment in this film for everyone, especially if you love classic female-driven films from the late 90s/early 00s.
Overall, this film is a fun reminder of how powerful stories about women by women are and that girls are allowed to have fun as well. Come for the names behind the film and stay for the amazing performances who bring an enjoyable script to life.