A Film A Day – Bottoms (2023)
After watching Aguirre, the Wrath of God, I fancied something funny. I saw Bottoms had hit Prime Video. Having heard good things about it I pressed play. I was glad I did, as it was hilarious.
Two unpopular queer high-school students start a fight club to have sex before graduation.
Last year I tried to watch at least one film a day. I failed. This year I am going to try again.
Should you choose to accompany me on this venture, I am writing regular updates, sharing the films I’ve watched and my thoughts on some of them. I am based in the UK, so I’ll note if certain films may not be available on streaming platforms in your region. Additionally, I’ll be referencing release dates from IMDB.com.
Bottoms (2023)
- Director: Emma Seligman
- Writer: Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott
- Cast: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Miles Fowler, Dagmara Domińczyk, and Marshawn Lynch.
- Watched on Blu-ray
Remember those teen comedies from the Eighties and Nineties? The ones you used to watch over and over again and quoted them endlessly with your friends. You know the ones I am talking about.
Well turns out they can still get made. Bottoms the brilliant love child of John Hughes and John Waters.
The film follows two unpopular lesbian best friends, PJ and Josie, at High School who just want to have sex. Deciding to finally do something about it and because of misunderstandings they start a fight club for the girls at the school.
There are so many laugh out loud moments that I wished I could have watched this in a packed cinema. It also means I will definitely be rewatching it the next time I have some people round.
It is utterly ridiculous in all the best ways and and has a whole lot of heart. It follows all the familiar beats of a teen comedy. That could have made it cliché and boring, but Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott used all of those traits and made them their own. You want PJ and Josie to succeed in their quest and you want to know more about the other characters who join their fight club. The reality is also slightly heightened just enough so you can have such things as bombs blowing up, teachers screaming obscenities, the football players wearing their uniforms all the time everywhere they go just be something that happens and without pulling you out of the film.
The dialogue is snappy with jokes flying by at an incredible pace. All of the cast do a brilliant job and I look forward to seeing them all again in whatever they do next.
For those of you who see “woke” everywhere you look, this may sound like your new nightmare and could have you running for the hills. If you are someone like that, I urge you to pause, take a deep breathe and give this a go.
You see, some recent films and TV shows feel that representation is all that matters and to hell with the story and well written characters and I can see how that is a genuine criticism of some projects. However, with Bottoms you get a great story, good characters and some cracking humour which leads to natural diversity and representation. It still manages to comment on various aspects of society, but does so without being preachy and in a humorous way.
Even though I am now a middle aged white heterosexual man, I could still relate as I too was once a nerdy unpopular school kid who wanted to get laid and I also appreciate a good joke. That is the power of good writing.
For those of you partaking in a daily film regimen, I encourage you to share your cinematic journey in the comments below. Let us exchange thoughts on the films we’ve watched—our impressions, delights, and perhaps the occasional disappointment.
Total Films Watched this year – 26
Happy viewing!
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