Bottoms director discusses the inspiration behind the “queer and female driven” teen comedy
Bottoms director Emma Seligman has opened up about creating the LGBTQ+ film in a new interview. On 25 August, the highly anticipated lesbian teen comedy was released in select US theatres.
Starring Bodies Bodies Bodies star Rachel Sennott and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri, the film follows two queer teenagers who create a fight club to “impress and hook up with cheerleaders”. “Their bizarre plan works.
The fight club gains traction and soon the most popular girls in school are beating each other up in the name of self-defense,” reads the official synopsis. “But PJ (Sennott) and Josie (Edebiri) find themselves in over their heads and in need of a way out before their plan is exposed.” Since its limited release, Bottoms has received universal acclaim from viewers and critics, with many praising the film for its “subversive” story, cast performances and over-the-top comedic moments. “Perfect script, perfect cast, perfect comedic delivery, #BottomsMovie serving real cinema,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
Another viewer commented: “#BottomsMovie 100% lived up to the hype. Holly shit it was AMAZING.” In a recent interview with Variety, director Seligman – who uses she/they pronouns – gave insight into the creative process for Bottoms and revealed that it was inspired by “over-the-top high school movies.” “I just miss that genre… I just wanted to bring it back,” they explained. “And part of bringing it back for me is making it queer and female-driven.
