Rating: 95/100
Sometimes movies are completely predictable. I remember being about 14 the first time I predicted the end of a movie before it was done. The movie was the 1998 (don’t do the math on my age) film US Marshals, a very weak spin-off from The Fugitive. Movies that you can guess the ending to give you a certain sense of satisfaction in your own powers of deduction, but they hardly entertain you as much as a movie that completely surprises you. Emma Seligman’s Bottoms is one of the most surprising, completely unpredictable movies I have ever seen. Nothing you have seen in the trailers could possibly prepare you for how bizarre this film is.
The movie follows lesbian teenage girls PJ (Rachel Sennott, who co-wrote the movie) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri), who seem to go to a school where queerness is fairly normalized and accepted, but these two characters find themselves at the bottom of the food chain even amongst the queer kids. The constant joke is that you can get away with being gay at this school, but not with being gay and ugly and untalented (which is a little overly insulting, as I’m sure the actors themselves are lovely people, but for the sake of the movie, we suspend our disbelief). They spend most of their time hopelessly crushing on the cheerleaders. But after the rival football team beats up a member of their school, Josie and PJ come up with the idea to start a fight club/self-defense club as a way to hook up with cheerleaders.
I saw a screening of this movie at the Sie Film Center as part of the Cinema Q queer film festival. Before the movie, one of the speakers from the festival compared this movie to Heathers, saying that most times when a movie was dubbed “the new Heathers” it’s an overreach, but that Bottoms was the first movie to take the next step up from Heathers. As I sat there listening to this, I wondered how this oddball queer comedy could possibly reach the levels of darkness in that darkly comic 1989 film. After watching Bottoms, I completely agree with the Heathers comparison. This movie absolutely gets just that dark.
At the same time, though, there’s a sense of surrealism to Bottoms. People don’t act or talk like normal people. There’s this sense that everything is some kind of a dream world, where things are just a little bit off. It’s like if Wet Hot American Summer was a little bit more tethered to reality, but still not that much tethered to reality. But that’s part of the reason why the movie is so unpredictable: It creates a world where anything could possibly happen and, therefore, there’s not really a way to predict what’s going to happen next.
NFL superstar Marshawn Lynch makes a surprising appearance in this movie as the kids’ apathetic teacher, Mr. G. Lynch has a few acting credits to his name, but mostly of him playing himself, like his appearance on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In a rare instance of Lynch not playing himself, he slots perfectly into this bonkers reality because he proves himself to be masterful at going off on long, nonsensical tangents that seem like they must have been ad-libbed. Mr. G is a sad man going through a divorce whose opinions on anything can change on a whim, as evidenced on how he goes back and forth between being a feminist ally and an outright misogynist. He shows far less emotional maturity than any of the teenage characters, which leads to some hilarious situations, as he continues to be the faculty advisor for this fight club that no sane teacher would ever allow to happen.
It was interesting to see Nicholas Galitzine as the all-American, straight football player in this movie after having seen him play the “gay as a maypole” Prince of England the night before in Red, White, and Royal Blue. Seeing the same actor in two diametrically opposed roles back to back really did showcase how versatile he is. And, while I had my issues with Red, White, and Royal Blue, the acting wasn’t one of them, and I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy following this actor’s career.
Bottoms is more than just potentially the best queer movie of the year, although it definitely is that. Bottoms is destined to go down in history as an absolute teen cult classic. It’s darkly edgy in a way that feels genuine and not forced. It’s also surprising enough to keep you guessing and laughing hysterically. And yet, in spite of all the cynicism and darkness in the movie, there’s something bright and hopeful about it that leaves you feeling happy. Go watch this movie immediately.
