Where I watched It: Digital Copy
English Audio Description?: Yes
Cast: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Kaya Gerber, and Marshawn Lynch
Written By: Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott
Directed By: Emma Seligman
Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott both landed on my “ones to watch” list (that exists in my head) after Shiva baby. I love being pleasantly surprised by new talent, and fresh voices, and Shiva baby gave me everything I needed in 2001. So, I was excited for bottoms, but perhaps my bar was too high.
What I will say is that this film can really quickly be put into a box. Two lesbians start a fight club to get laid. Well, not really. It is more complex than that, and you are just getting the elevator pitch. Sure, Sennott plays opposite Edebiri as two best friends, who are just trying to get laid in high school, but the fight club thing is born more out of necessity and then the girls realize the value of it. What you also need to notice is that this is a hyper reality where football is truly king, and nothing else matters. It’s one of the things the audio description kind of drops the ball on.
Everything I’ve heard from those I know who have seen Bottoms found a lot of the humor to be in how the guys at the school are portrayed, almost like a comedic version of Varsity Blues. Football players are gods. There are posters of the quarterback everywhere, and doing anything that might harm a football player can land you in trouble. They also run around in full game gear the whole movie. It’s something that gets a little lost in translation, but was an obvious choice by Seligman to further drive a wedge between guys and girls at this school.
There’s been some praise for Marshawn Lynch as a teacher, but it’s just because he’s not known for acting. The script is what is funny, and him being a fish out of water as an atypical teacher helps. Really, the strength of this film is in the concept, the words on the page, and Seligman’s direction. It fell a little short of Shiva baby, but not every director is always going to top themselves. This is still a strong film, and I’m still a big fan of this duo, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
I would just have honed the audio description more on the clear tone that Seligman was setting for the comedy. It’s like if you had a film where the characters were going about their day, but someone just kept appearing fully naked, you would want to point that out. It’s not enough to tell us the first time, but it’s the repetition of the joke, like “is he STILl naked?” That makes the joke work. Leaning in on Seligman’s clear interpretation of football worship would have brought out more contrast, and reminded its audience of what points she was trying to make.
Final Grade: B+