Movie #16 : Bottoms

 One of the best movies I have ever seen. The main characters were two lesbians trying to lose their virginity. Talk about relatable. The movie stars upcoming actors such as Ayo Edebiri, Rachel Sennott, Nicholas Galitzine, and Ruby Cruz. It also starred former football running back, Marshawn Lynch. He is hilarious, I would have guessed he was also in the acting business. "Bottoms" was released to select theaters in late August of 2023 and was directed by Emma Seligman. Seligman and Sennott are best friends who wrote this movie together while they were in college together. 

The movie follows PJ, played by Sennott, and Josie, played by Edebiri, as lesbian best friends who are categorized at the "ugly, untalented, gays". They have crushes on two other best friends, Isabel, played by Havana Rose Liu, and Brittany, played by Kaia Gerber. They attend a high school that is centered around the football players played by Galitzine and Miles Fowler. After there is a string of violence, PJ and Josie devise a plan to create a self-defense club for girls at the school. This is really just a guise for them to get closer to Brittany and Isabel. They have their other friend, Hazel, played by Cruz, to join them and begin a fight club. Lynch is Mr. G, their faculty advisor. But things start to intensify as PJ and Josie lie about going to juvie and the big football game comes soon.

One aspect of this movie that I found funny was that it poked fun at high school movies and how the characters in those movies rarely actually go to class. They even shut down the library in this movie to make up for the lack of reading. "Bottoms" also had the football players constantly be in uniform to emphasize this again. And one of the football players was locked in a cage which is strange at first but then you find out why. 

The dialogue for this movie was very realistic as well. This is most likely due to it being written by actual young people. This is why is it so important to have young people actually in the writing room if the movie is going to center around them. All the actors were obviously older that high school ages which is going to happen in movies, but it did not feel like they looked old or acted old. They also had great makeup on Sennott and Edebiri because they are two beautiful women who somehow looked bad in this movie. But that was the point, to make them unpopular. 

If I had to make any critiques, I would say that they could have said the word lesbian. I am not entirely sure if they did, I will rewatch to check, but many times they were referred to as gay or gays. This is a trend I have been noticing in a lot of queer media that even if the character is a lesbian, they will be referred to as gay. It sucks because lesbian is not a bad word and can be used openly. In my experience, if you say that you are gay to people and come out to people, they will ask you to specify. Many bi or pan people use gay as a way to describe themselves, so sometimes it is needed to say lesbian in order to explain your sexuality. I just wish more things used that word to make it feel less dirty. 

Sennott and Edebiri were absolutely fantastic in this movie. They are young, talented stars rising in the young Hollywood. I have loved their previous projects and cannot wait to see what they have in the future. They are creating their own universe where they make movies and put their friends in them and just make the funniest movie we ever. And I love that it centers around queer women.

Character-wise, PJ made me mad. She was one of the main villains of the film by creating this club as a way to hook up with girls. Josie is not as bad since she recognizes this is wrong and does try to help the girls, but she still makes intense lies about going to juvie. My favorite character was Hazel because she was so sweet and provide tons of support for the group. She would even be the secretary and send emails of the notes for each meeting. Also, I may or may not be in love with Ruby Cruz now. 

I will give props to the men as well. Galitzine and Fowler did an amazing job playing the dumb, but evil football players. Lynch was also just spectacular. No other words to describe, he was perfectly cast. Enough about men though because Gerber and Liu also did a great job. Gerber played on how people think she acts in real life. Liu just had this special touch to her, and I understood Josie's interest in her. 

The humor in "Bottoms" was also top tier. It was a mix of raunchy and sometimes violent but was geared to women. Almost all of the jokes were for women and that made the movie 1000 times funnier in my opinion. The jokes were out there, but at the same time very real. I think men only believe that women aren't funny is because they do not understand the jokes. But I do. The fighting aspect in the movie also showed that women can take charge of themselves and be strong. I loved watching them beat up men coming after them. It was very satisfying.

Overall, I loved this movie. I loved having a lesbian lead movie that was focused on queerness. It was really perfect, and I hope this proves that lesbian movies are popular and good. If you are queer or not, you should see this movie. I saw it with my mom, who did not particularly love it, but she still thought it was good. It is definitely geared towards a younger crowd though. It is in theaters now, so go watch!