Bottoms Is the New Queer Film Masterpiece
Bottoms is a brilliantly hilarious masterpiece on the uncomfortable queer high school experience.
“Could the ugly untalented gays please report to the principal’s office?” Written by Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott, MGM, and Orion Pictures dropped the trailer.
From the producers of Pitch Perfect and Cocaine Bear, Bottoms is one of the most anticipated movies of the summer. The trailer, released on June 6, revealed what the public could expect from Seligman and Senott’s queer masterpiece.
PJ (Rachel Senott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) are two teenage girls who, in an attempt to get closer to their crushes, Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Liu), start a fight club to teach girls how to defend themselves.
“So, we teach a bunch of girls how to defend themselves, they are grateful to us, adrenaline is flowing, next thing you know, Isabel and Brittany are kissing us on the mouths!” Senott’s character explains this to PJ in the movie’s trailer.
Bottoms has a similar coming-of-age feel as other popular teen movies while depicting a high school experience that is often dismissed. Even the poster has a similar design to other foolish high school films fundamental to so many viewers’ teenagehood.
Ayo shares some references for the BOTTOMS poster. #BottomsMovie
Via IG pic.twitter.com/PD2GenLEp2— Ayo Edebiri Updates (@ayosource) June 5, 2023
From the trailer, the audience can identify a few references to movies that revel in the traditional high school experience. For example, some popular girls love insulting football players and socially awkward students.
What sets Bottoms apart is that this classic story is finally being told from the gay kids’ perspective. Moreover, the plot plays with modern-day ideas centered around “wokeness” and the overused, sometimes insincere, “girls supporting girls” theme.
Bottoms’ catchphrase, “A movie about empowering women (the hot ones),” reflects an ordinary high school reality where the stereotypical high school heartthrob only advocates for the women he is attracted to.
In a conversation with Variety, Senott shares how Bottoms is the product of her and Edebiri’s years of comedic chemistry.
“We’ve done the worst, like, basement shows together, and then like, sketches and everything, and then to get to use the built-in banter that we have just as like being friends and knowing each other for so long was just like so fun.”
Every aspect of this movie’s production is authentically gay, according to the Film Music Reporter; Charli XCX, a hyper-pop artist notoriously known for her influence within the LGBTQ+ community, co-composed Bottoms score together with Leo Birenberg.
Bottoms is set to release in July, but until then, check out the trailer below.
