Bottoms
★★★★
The evolution of teen comedies is fascinating. They are a timestamp of where we are in the world, not just in high school. Risky Business was a commentary on the materialistic values of the '80s. Clueless was a reflection on '90s fashion, culture and societal norms. Superbad embraced the raunchy in the aughts. Now there is Bottoms, which is purposely poking fun of the genre while providing a looking glass into how today's culture perceives popularity and identity.
A pair of lesbian best friends, PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri), start a fight club as a way to lose their virginities to cheerleaders. Oh yeah, and Marshawn Lynch plays the sponsor for this "self-defense" club. That should give you some insight into the raucous fun that director Emma Seligman is willing to take on. This film embraces its tone with full force with hilarious lines, reactions, action set pieces and amazing background acting. The way the film deconstructs American football culture is amazing and it would be a lot of fun to screen this film with Varsity Blues to see how far we've come.
I wouldn't be surprised if this film garners cult status because it's innovative but completely relaxed in its approach. It takes chances but never takes it too seriously with a super-talented young cast. I laughed a lot and for a film that has conventional plot beats, I was fully unsure of what was going to happen next. Beware the pineapple juice.
