Bottoms!

A whimsical, satirical comedy about feminism, what it means to be queer and the harms of the patriarchy which pays hilarious homage to the ridiculousness of 90’s and 00’s ‘chick-flicks’. The tagline of the movie is literally “a movie about empowering women (the hot ones)". Iconic.

PJ and Josie (our queer protagonists) start a fight club as a way to lose their virginities to cheerleaders. The fight club gains feminist traction and soon the most popular girls in school are beating each other up in the name of self-defence. And through this, find female friendships and camaraderie. But PJ and Josie find themselves in over their heads and in need of a way out before their plan is exposed.

The movie is great at feeling incredibly modern and progressive whilst simultaneously feeling nostalgic and comforting. It manages to capture a very particular but exquisite comedy style with quick gags, funny one-liners and an impeccable off-kilter storyline that keeps you thoroughly engaged throughout. There will be moments when the storyline seems too whacky to be real, but the comedy and the touching moments make the whackiest moments fulfilling. Each character is played marvellously, particularly the two leads, who bounce off each other effortlessly to create a really comfortable partnership that feels real. The supporting cast are all equally as hilarious and really lean into this unconfined way of storytelling. Considering this is only Emma Seligman’s second feature film speaks volumes as to what a talent they are and I can't wait to see what they do next.

As silly as this movie is, there is a strange level of catharsis to it too. Watching the girls work together and learn from each other to defend and look after each other is truly fresh and subversive for this genre of comedy. The characters in the final few scenes of the movie unleash this pent up female rage in a hilarious, yet victorious fight scene that will make any woman, including the often marginalised communities, feel unstoppable.

This movie is absolutely worth the watch, and I would 100% recommend it to anyone that wants 91 minutes of crazy, silly, heart-warming queerness.

Continue to support queer cinema and queer artists to allow movies as brilliant and wacky as this one to be made!

If you enjoyed this, you may also like:

• LadyBird - Greta Gerwig

• Love, Simon - Greg Berlanti

• Do Revenge - Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Thanks for reading! And enjoy watching Bottoms!

Love,

Kate x