'Bottoms' review: Broken noses and bloodshed mark this refreshingly unhinged teen comedy

Here’s a brutal truth: We’ve all done something stupid in the name of love. And therein lies the universal beauty amid the broken noses and bloodshed of “Bottoms.”  

The gonzo coming-of-age chaos that marked “Animal House” and “Revenge of the Nerds” meets the moment with director Emma Seligman’s two-fisted teen comedy (★★★½ out of four; rated R; in select theaters now, nationwide Friday). Closer in spirit to John Belushi’s Bluto than the “Booksmart” girls, Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri play queer best friends who start a high-school girls fight club for all the wrong reasons and end up making a difference in people’s lives in a way that’s more accidental than purposeful.

Josie (Edebiri) and PJ (Sennott) are social outcasts entering their senior year at Rockbridge Falls who are a pile of putty when talking with their cheerleader crushes, Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Gerber, the spitting image of mom Cindy Crawford). A chance encounter with their dream girlfriends at a carnival leads to Josie driving her car way too close to the knees of hero quarterback Jeff (a delightfully sniveling Nicholas Galitzine), which further lowers their cool status.

With absolutely nothing to lose, and their classmates thinking they’re a couple of juvie-trained ruffians anyway, Josie and PJ start a fight club to teach girls self-defense tactics because the folks from rival Huntington High are bound to get violent leading to the upcoming homecoming football game. Their pal Hazel (Ruby Cruz) sees the club as a way to improve the school’s female solidarity, while Josie and PJ just want to get close to Isabel's and Brittany’s student bodies.

With faculty assistance from eccentric history teacher Mr. G (ex-NFL star Marshawn Lynch), the fight club goes from awkward, bone-crunching first meeting to an actual phenomenon that takes attention away from Jeff and his football buddies. That just won’t do and the friction escalates as a little light anarchy and a gnarly pep rally brawl chart an enjoyably demented path to an unhinged gridiron finale.

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Any sort of raunchy teen sex comedy has to walk a fine line without being derivative – especially gender-flipping the “boys losing their virginity” trope. The fight-club bit helps (and the David Fincher movie of the same name does get a nice shoutout) but the welcome freshness comes mainly from Seligman’s inventive script (Mr. G's blackboard is home for some of the best gags), a love for bizarre situations (“Total Eclipse of the Heart” gets needle-dropped perfectly in the film’s most explosive scene) and Edebiri and Sennott’s outstanding chemistry. Following impressive turns in "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies" and Seligman's "Shiva Baby," Sennott is an abrasive force of nature and Edebiri builds upon her amazing 2023, which has included roles in "The Bear" and "Theater Camp."

Josie and PJ round up a fun mix of diverse personalities for their group, who all come to them with traumas and issues, and the two antiheroines lie and manipulate as well as they throw haymakers. “Bottoms” explores and at times even sends up feminism, sexuality and toxic masculinity but never gets maudlin. While lessons are learned, feelings are had and heady thoughts are broached, the movie tends to lean gloriously into the dark joke or hyperviolent moment rather than any sort of “message.”

Add in a plethora of memorable lines ready-made to repeat with friends and a movie-stealing turn from Lynch, and “Bottoms” is the kind of go-for-broke, satisfying cult treat that can totally beat up your favorite teen classic.

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