Fix: High school movies, gut-busting comedy, biting social commentary, an absolutely bananas good time
Platform: Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime Summary:
In this refreshingly outspoken and raunchy comedy, two unpopular girls in their senior year of high school start a fight club to try to impress and hook up with cheerleaders. And their bizarre plan works! But are they in over their heads?
FYA Summary:
Y’all! I cannot BELIEVE it has taken me this long to write a huge plug review for my favorite film of 2023, Bottoms. This movie blasted my face off with its awesomeness. This movie killed me dead with laughter. This movie stepped up to reshape the entire genre of high school movies and straight up DESTROYED IT.
I honestly cackled when I read the Amazon description above because it’s something the film’s two main characters would totally make fun of. “And their bizarre plan works!” [Insert Ayo Edebiri making her most sarcastically enthusiastic face.]
ANYWAY! So, yeah, PJ and Josie are best friends, and they’re total losers at their school. They’re also both gay, and they’re desperate to lose their virginity before they graduate. So of course they set their sights on the hottest (and therefore most unattainable) cheerleaders in the class, Isabel and Brittany. Through a series of events I won’t spoil for you, they kinda accidentally end up starting a Fight Club for girls, and their teacher, Mr. G, agrees to be the faculty sponsor. And then things get REALLY out of hand, thanks in part to the club members (a wildly mixed bag of students), PJ and Josie’s complete inability to run the club or their own lives, and the looming shadow of Jeff, the star quarterback and the dumbest psycho ever portrayed on screen.
To say shit gets bananas is an understatement.
Familiar Faces:
Ayo Edebiri as Josie, Rachel Sennott as PJ
Ayo Edebiri needs no introduction (I mean, y’all have seen The Bear, right?!!!) but I will say, she’s never been funnier than she is in Bottoms. As Josie, she’s awkward as hell while also being very dry and direct, and her (platonic) chemistry with Rachel Sennott results in some of the most dynamite banter I’ve ever seen on screen. (The two actors met in college so it’s no surprise that the friendship feels authentic AF.)
You may have seen Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby (same director as Bottoms, Emma Seligman) or in Bodies Bodies Bodies, in which she steals every single scene she’s in. She plays PJ with a brash confidence that lands her character in soooo many cringey / mortifying / insane situations, and her innate charm guarantees you will love every minute.
Nicholas Galitzine as Jeff
Haha OMG NICHOLAS GALITZINE YOU GUYS. Is there anything this man can’t do?!! He’s a sexy sexy prince in Red, White & Royal Blue, and he can pull off what is basically Harry Styles in the upcoming Idea of You. In Bottoms, he plays a high school football player unlike any other—a cartoonish, egotistical, totally bonkers buffoon.
Marshawn Lynch as Mr. G
Okay no surprise, I am not a sports person, so one of my friends had to explain to me that Marshawn Lynch is a mega famous football player known for Beast Mode (which is now his actual brand). It is SO RAD that he is in this movie—he joined the cast in honor of his sister, who came out in high school—because his take on the role of a teacher is, well, I know I keep saying this but y’all, it’s unlike anything you’ve seen in a high school movie. His comedic timing, not to mention his improv skills, are on FIRE.
I also want to give a shout out to Kaia Gerber (Brittany) in what I would argue is the coolest role she will ever have, and Summer Joy Campbell, who plays Sylvie, my favorite member of the fight club.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Invite the Whole Class
This movie is a PAR-TEE, so get in a big pile on the couch and prepare to laugh so hard, you’ll have to keep rewinding because you just missed like five other jokes. (Fair warning: your abdomen will hurt for daaaaays.) Equally as important, you should NOT be alone for the epic finale because there is simply too much to freak out about like did they really go there and WTF and HOLY HELL and no one should have to enjoy that batshittery alone.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Bottoms Up
Sure, you want to be sober enough to appreciate the raunchy, whip-smart, and hilarious script, as well as the many small details that will make you Chortle with a capital “C” (keep an eye on the chalkboard in Mr. G’s class); but also, you’ll obviously be watching this movie again, so get in the school spirit! I recommend a cocktail with pineapple juice…
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Bottomless
I am so very, very glad I live in a world where Bottoms exists. While this film is rooted in everything I love about high school movies, it also elevates and updates the genre in ways that are much needed (queer MCs! A female director! Sex positivity!) and much appreciated (over the top humor! Biting social commentary!). I pray that in five years, people will be quoting this movie like we all quote Heathers, Clueless, and Mean Girls. In other words, consider this film to be officially inducted into the FYA High School Movie Hall of Fame!
