A Debut That Made The Modern Generation Feel Seen
2021 was a revelatory year for many filmmakers, presenting their feature-length debuts at prestigious festivals worldwide. There was Audrey Diwan with her Golden Lion-winning “Happening” (“L’evenement”), Maggie Gyllenhaal with “The Lost Daughter,” and Andreas Fontana with “Azor,” amongst other brilliant features. One of those filmmakers who made a big splash and caught everyone’s attention was Emma Seligman with her relatable and suffocating “Shiva Baby.” This comedy almost reaches thriller territory due to its approach of depicting family dynamics and uncertainty after college. There aren’t many films like this nowadays. There aren’t movies that almost cross the fine line of genres because of their realistic portrayals of real-life situations, particularly those that center around family meetings. The film makes viewers anxious while they are howling like hyenas via the screenplay’s hilarious dialogue. It almost felt like we were laughing at the main character’s pain. But with a specific twist.
We laughed because we were uncomfortable. We all felt the main character’s uncertainty and embarrassment since we had gone through similar situations. “Shiva Baby” made viewers feel seen. And in addition, that family reunions are mostly god-awful and anxiety-inducing. There’s nothing more stressful than family members you haven’t seen in a long while asking about your future plans and seeking an assertive answer. These sensations made “Shiva Baby” special and Emma Seligman a talented young force to be reckoned with. Now, Seligman is back with her sophomore feature, “Bottoms.” And it ends up as a combination between “Fight Club” and “Not Another Teen Movie” — a raunchy high school sex comedy that contains a couple of laughs from the Seligman and Rachel Sennott co-written script, but lacks the sharp humor and significant emotional vulnerability that made her debut unique.
The Purposefully Over-the-Top Follow-Up
“Bottoms” centers around two uncool gay girls, P.J. (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri), who are entering their senior year in high school. They constantly feel like outcasts on school grounds, deemed untalented and unlikable. P.J. insists that this is going to be their year. One of their many goals before the end of the school year is getting laid. The two of them have a crush on some cheerleader classmates. P.J. is in love with Brittany (Kaia Gerber), while Josie is in awe of Isabel (Havana Rose Liu). For reasons that are pretty complicated to explain thoroughly without spoiling a couple of the film’s comedic scenarios, P.J. and Josie devise the idea to teach women self-defense countermeasures to get laid because of it. They think this will bring them closer to Brittany and Isabel, tempting them to join the club.
Initially, it is a fight club where angst and anxiety fill each punch with sheer strength fueled by disquietude. Take into consideration that neither P.J. nor Josie has ever thrown a punch in their lives. But since the school believes that some violent teens have spent time in juvenile detention because of some miscommunication, it grants their plan more credibility than they would have anticipated. As the group gains popularity, it means much more than that; it is also a place where they learn about empowerment and standing up to those who think they are above them. But how far will they go to sell the lie?
During the first couple of minutes, there are glimpses of the tropes in high school-set comedic (and occasionally romantic) pictures. Think about the time when films like “Bring It On,” “She’s All That,” “Mean Girls,” “She’s the Man,” etc. However, the one film it feels most inspired by is the Natasha Lyonne-led cult classic, “But I’m a Cheerleader.” Emma Seligman’s sophomore feature is set during this timeframe, at least cinematically. Yet, the young filmmaker has a couple of tricks up her sleeve. Throughout the course of “Bottoms,” Seligman toys with those tropes and cliches playfully. She makes the predictable and stale “nerdy outcasts” narrative into a film that has more to chew on via its self-aware and convention-breaking structure, at least on paper. In execution, it goes 50/50. The film definitely packs plenty of uproarious quips and hilarious sequences that lift this weird creation altogether.
A 30/70 Split in Seligman’s Trope-Defying Canvas
Seligman and Sennott stitch together scenarios that play with our notions of high-school comedies without reaching into the spoof territory. They mock the types of movies I mentioned. In addition, they embrace their nature by reinventing the expected dynamics, yet through a modern lens. Those aspects of the screenplay – alongside Sennott and Edebiri’s performances that bring life to those lines – are the best part of “Bottoms.” However, I did find myself appreciating those subversions and innovations rather than engaging with them. The journey is rocky from the beginning, albeit thoroughly interesting. You get the feeling that there’s something off about each narrative beat. It loses sight of its motivation as the jokes keep piling up, which range from funny to cringe-worthy.
With “Bottoms,” Seligman doesn’t want to replicate the sensitivity of her debut. She wants to craft a film that doesn’t need an inch of sentimentalism to earn its payoff. At least, that’s what I thought about at first. When the third act arrives, that’s where the film falters rapidly for me. It delves into sentimental bathos via a quite bloody climax. You begin to feel that “Bottoms” is taking itself seriously. Because of this, the character’s arc, primarily the women who join the club and not so much the leads, gets lost amidst the over-the-top demeanor.
I appreciate Seligman reaching out for a broader and far more expanded canvas than the film that put her in the spotlight. And I would love for her to take another crack at these types of films in equal balance to her endearing touch in her smaller projects. But “Bottoms” didn’t do it for me on both comedic and thematic levels. There are moments of brilliance – primarily the performances and line delivery – scattered around Seligman’s follow-up to “Shiva Baby.” Yet it feels like it didn’t measure up to the level of its ambition of trope reinvention.
“Bottoms” hits select theaters across the U.S. on August 25th, before expanding on September 1st, 2023.
