This Underrated 2023 Comedy Deserved Way More Love

Making good comedies isn’t easy. Making good comedies aimed at the Gen-Z crowd is even harder. With A Minecraft Movie using meme-like humor to a disheartening degree, it shows that filmmakers struggle to depict the humor of the younger generation. But there is a recent comedy that managed to successfully capturing the humor of Gen-Z, and frustratingly, it also ended up being overlooked far more than it deserved.

Directed by Emma Seligman, 2023’s Bottoms follows two girls who start a female fight club to lose their virginity. Written by Seligman as well as one of the protagonists, Rachel Sennott, the film perfectly captures what it’s like to live as a Gen-Z person in the best ways. Bottoms perfectly captures Gen-Z humor through its outlandish comedic sequences and satire on modern culture. It may poke fun at 2000s comedies, but it has a voice of its own that makes it stand out among others in its genre.

Bottoms‘ Self Awareness and Bizarre Nature is Perfect for the Gen-Z Crowd

Content that tends to bode well with the Gen-Z crowd is those similar to TikTok: fast-paced, short attention span humor with a sense of self-awareness and sometimes dark subject matter. Bottoms capitalizes on this idea with extremely rewarding results. It’s “laugh a minute” approach makes for an always entertaining experience, experimenting with both darker and lighter topics of humor that bring an unpredictability to the film. From jokes about bombing a school to something simple like a teenager asking someone’s mom for a snack, Bottoms is an extremely creative film that understands its target audience and delivers exactly what they want.

Bottoms is not only centered toward the youth. It also attempts to replicate classics of the genre like the American Pie franchise, But I’m a Cheerleader, and Not Another Teen Movie. The film’s colorful aesthetic and quirky sense of humor align with comedies of the 2000s while having a voice of its own. Whether it’s an overly eccentric jock or a principal with a disregard for their students, the film pokes fun at what the genre is known for while attempting to create something new with its modern slang.

Bottoms not only works as an ode to an earlier time in film, but also as a satire of modern culture. The film pokes fun at the absurdity of women’s role in society, acting as an object to the male gaze with no existence of intellect. Jeff, played excellently by Nicolas Galitzine, is the main metaphor for real-world sexism. Jeff is the captain of his football team and inherently runs the school. His inability to view women as anything other than his property is so absurd and wrong that it comes off as funny. Jeff not only acts as a comedic antagonist but also represents how corrupt and misogynistic the people in charge of our society can be.

Bottoms Created Many New Stars of This Generation

Ayo Edibiri and Rachel Sennott are fantastic as the two main protagonists. The pair not only have amazing chemistry with one another, but their ability to channel what a Gen-Z high schooler is like made for relatable and enjoyable performances. Even though the characters make numerous horrible decisions, their natural charisma makes even the darkest moments of their character development extremely likable. With this role and her excellent work in The Bear, Edibiri is becoming an actress to look out for.

The rest of the cast is equally great, with Havana Rose Liu and Kaia Gerber portraying the popular cheerleaders in a hilariously on-the-nose way. Ruby Cruz perhaps plays the most normal and generic character in the film (if you can even call it that), but she still finds ways to add her quirks to make the character stand out. Marshawn Lynch also delivers a hell of a debut film performance. Although his character is going through a divorce, he uses his trauma to become one of the funniest characters of film, having many of the film’s best lines as well as line deliveries.

For a high school comedy, Bottoms is shockingly violent. The film makes use of the Fight Club storyline and brings tons of blood and broken body parts. It’s use of different genres made for an unpredictable experience, with a third act that becomes so insane that it is impossible not to love. What starts as a corny high school comedy turns into a violent action movie that is bound to leave an impression on the audience.

Comedy is a hard genre to get right, and Bottoms is one of the rare successes due to its genre-bending screenplay and its Gen Z-centered humor. With an excellent cast of newcomers and its fast pace, the film is bound to be a classic for the new generation as it becomes the first great Gen-Z comedy.

Bottoms is available to watch on Prime Video.

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