Bottoms (2022) Film Review
A guest submission written by Katelyn Wright and edited by Amber, one of our editors!
If you’re anything like me, you reside on a niche side of the internet, or maybe you’ve dipped your toes in without realizing it. As the cultural tide turns, Queer stories are becoming a mainstay staple. Just look at the success of works like Moonlight, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Dickinson, Shiva Baby, Heartstopper, Anne With An E, and Do Revenge. Frankly, the list could go on for quite a long time.
Bottoms is directed by Emma Seligman, who you may know from 2020’s Shiva Baby, and does what so many Queer films often lack. Bottoms brings growing pains, youthful ignorance, and high school social dynamics into play in a way that feels more reminiscent of earlier movies such as Bring It On and Not Another Teen Movie. Even including the sheer talent that the cast brings to the table. Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott may have started as niche internet sensations, but they’ve shown the magnitude of their skills with both acting and writing credits in productions like The Bear, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Big Mouth, as well as this film. You may know Nicholas Galitzine from his recent work in Red White & Royal Blue, but Galitzine transitions to comedy seamlessly in his portrayal of Jeff. Ruby Rose from Mare of Eastown, Marshawn Lynch, Punkie Johnson, Miles Fowler, Havana Rose Liu, and Kaia Gerber also hold just as compelling roles in this film.
As the saying goes, “The gays are going mainstream!” Oh, wait, I meant, “Once you’ve hit rock bottom, you have nowhere to go except up.” No one seems to understand this more than Josie (Ayo Edebiri) and PJ (Rachel Sennott). As their school’s resident lesbian best friends, they have learned to navigate life at the bottom of the social pecking order. Despite their social standing, they still have dreams of losing their virginities to Brittany and Isabel, the two most popular cheerleaders at school, played by Kaia Gerber and Havana Rose Liu respectively. The latter is dating Jeff, the staple All-American quarterback that audiences know all too well (he’s also got a severe allergy to pineapple juice. It’s an important detail, I swear). Through the course of a single night, Josie and PJ inadvertently start a rumor that they were in Juvie and “run over” Jeff. When they inevitably have to go to the principal's office, their cover is that this was all a part of their self-defense club. The midsection of the film is comprised of typical high school movie shenanigans such as school rivalries, the cushy treatment of football teams, and the girls finding a sense of unity with each other. Jeff’s most relatable moment was when he interpretively danced in his room to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” while his car burned in the background. I’ll let you figure that one out. This sense of unity dissipates in typical teen fashion due to failed and successful (go Josie!) romances driving a wedge between the group. These differences are set aside to save Jeff from a murder attempt by a rival school (using, you guessed it, pineapple juice!), where the girls put their fight club skills to the test in a sequence that gives Marvel a run for their money. Bottoms solidifies how impactful it feels to have media that feels like it was made by and for people like you. I haven’t felt this empowered leaving a theater since marathoning all of the High School Musical as a tween and forcing my friends to participate in a synchronized dance montage - a feeling that can only be compared to beating up rival football players in an attempt to save your crush’s ex-boyfriend from pineapple juice.
It’s a quintessential classic teen love story; they just happen to be gay, and audiences can rejoice in the absurdity of the film without worrying about a chilling turn because the other shoe simply never drops. As the movie makes clear, Josie and PJ aren’t hated for being gay. They’re hated for more nuanced reasons like being gay AND untalented.
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Katelyn Wright is a writer and recent college graduate currently based out of Los Angeles. She enjoys keeping up with all things pop culture, is an avid reader, and animal lover.
This piece was edited by one of our editors, Amber. Reach her at @spaldingamber on Twitter.
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