Co-written by Seligman and Sennott, “Bottoms” is enjoyable and foolish in all its chaos. The 2 have created a ridiculous world the place the overdramatic highschool drama just isn’t all the time purported to make sense, however that’s a part of the attraction. Cinematographer Maria Rusche makes their faculty look dreary in blue, an oppressive house that might carry down anyone who isn’t on the prime of the scholar hierarchy. Their instructor makes solely primary statements, no rationalization, after which permits his college students to return to regardless of the youngsters wish to do whereas he reads magazines inappropriate for minors and stews about his divorce.
In a single early classroom scene, a scholar is proven in a cage however not talked about. Later, we study he’s the varsity’s prime wrestler, presumably solely allowed out for matches. The soccer gamers put on their uniforms on a regular basis for some inexplicable motive. PJ cites feminism as a motive to start out their combat membership/self-dense group, however Josie factors out that she really hates feminism. The most effective mates associate with a rumor that they spent the summer season in juvenile detention, with Josie embellishing excruciating tales of survival to their classmates’ horror.
The film options needle drops aplenty, together with a really comedic use of the karaoke staple, Bonnie Tyler’s “Complete Eclipse of the Coronary heart,” and additional fashionable beats offered by Leo Birenberg and Charli XCX. It’s one foolish bit after one other, like candies rolling off a conveyor belt.
There may be one poignant second the place “Bottoms” drops its unserious tone for a sobering second between PJ, Josie, Hazel, and their membership members. Gathered collectively on the basketball courtroom on Hazel’s suggestion that they need to get to know their members higher, the group begins to share traumatizing tales of assault, stalkers, and frustration over police inaction. The second doesn’t final lengthy as Josie then particulars her “time” in juvie. Nonetheless, it’s an efficient nod to the true violence women their characters’ age endure earlier than returning to their haphazard fisticuffs coaching.
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