Let's be honest, many of the raunchy teenage movies we grew up watching haven't aged very well. There was an interesting Vice article from a few years ago about teens that watched American Pie along with other raunchy teen movies for the first time. Today’s teens didn't hold back calling out all of the problematic issues in those films.

While I completely agree with many of their thoughts, I've got a soft spot for those types of movies because they're like a time machine back to when I was a rebellious 10-year-old, every now and then I’d sneakily find a way to watch one of those movies with my friends. Most of those films I remember watching were Not Another Teen Movie, the American Pie Series, Euro Trip, Fired Up, and Road Trip. They all bring back so many memories.

Truth be told, studios don't really make “teen movies” like that anymore, for good reason. Thankfully, Emma Seligman's second feature film, Bottoms, fills the void with a refreshing take on the raunchy rom-com formula, telling a story we've all heard before but grounded in a more modern mindset.

Bottoms follows two teenagers, Rachel Sennott as PJ and Ayo Edebiri as Josie. PJ and Josie are best friends, and they both desperately want to lose their virginities. They come up with a plan to create a school fight club to promote self-defense, in hopes of impressing and sleeping with their crushes, two cheerleaders, Havana Rose Liu as Isabel and Kaia Gerber as Brittany. As the fight club gains popularity, PJ and Josie scramble to keep their scheme under wraps.

The film leans heavily into satire and exaggeration, urging viewers to suspend their disbelief and focus on the comedy. It’s gut-punching, hilarious, fresh, violent, and gay, in short, it’s a concoction of American Pie with it’s raunchiness and Barbie with it’s empowerment combing to create something I can only describe as Horny Barbie.

I really enjoyed this movie. I didn't have many expectations, and I was surprised by how exaggerated it was. However, once I got used to that style, I was hooked. Flipping the gender roles in the story was smart and different. Usually, in “teen movies”, it's the men trying to lose their virginities, and that plot line was so overdone in the early 2000s. While films like Booksmart also do a similar gender flip, Booksmart doesn't quite capture the true essence of a traditional “teen movie”. Bottoms, on the other hand, deserves credit for successfully tackling such an iconic genre in a tasteful way. It's impressive how Bottoms manages give viewers that nostalgic feeling of watching an early 2000s film.

The jokes in Bottoms hit the mark, and the exaggerated performances had me dying laughing. The pacing is just right, Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott have incredible on-screen chemistry, both portraying the "awkward teen" perfectly. The soundtrack is infectious. The set design is on point, and the ending is really extraordinary. My main complaint is that many aspects of the plot are very predictable. In the films defense, Bottoms needed to take inspiration from American Pie and other “teen movies” to truly pay homage to the genre and to be satirical.

Bottoms' biggest strength was its incredible humor. Few jokes missed the mark, and the whole theater was highly engaged. I enjoyed the set design; I found myself constantly looking at the school posters, flyers, and other elements in the background looking for little comedic easter eggs. There were numerous hidden jokes, mostly glorifying Jeff the quarterback. In the cafeteria, there's a hilarious fresco-style mural that is parodying "The Creation of Adam," in Bottoms parody, Jeff is depicted touching a football with his fingertip. The absurdity of the set elements and those hidden little touches in the background really helped me accept the absurdism in the film. This went hand in hand nicely with the exaggerated acting and writing.

In terms of acting, Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri absolutely shine in Bottoms, their awkward yet authentic conversations with their crushes are funny, and you can’t help but root for them. Impressively, Their performances, along with most of the cast never felt forced despite being so exaggerated.

The fight club scenes are well coordinated, giving them a genuine, gritty quality. The makeup artists also deserve credit for realistically showing the wear and tear on their women's faces after their fight club meetings. The ending of Bottoms cranks up the intensity and grittiness, creating a truly epic finale with badass fight scenes.

Several times throughout the film I could predict what would happen next. Having watched numerous "teen movies" over the years, I understand that Bottoms, as a satirical film, has to follow the conventional "teen movie" tropes, I just wish there was something more. While the fight club was sort of the major twist or creative element, I feel there was an opportunity to take things further and go a level deeper with the plot.

All in all, Bottoms is amazing. I was already a big fan of Emma Seligman and her first feature film, Shiva Baby, and Rachel Sennott's performances in both Bottoms and Shiva Baby were phenomenal. I really hope Seligman and Sennott continue working together on future projects, they consistently bring out the best in each other. If you enjoyed this review, follow me on Letterboxd and we can connect.