“Bottoms” — an R-rated comedy about teen lesbians who are so desperate to have sex that they start a fight club — is a bit polarizing. But that’s the point. “Bottoms” could have been a simple parody of other teen movies, a commentary on the gross out comedies that tend to star teen boys and the personal dramas that tend to star teen girls. But “Bottoms” somehow combines both. It is really weird, never afraid to keep upping the stakes until it reaches its bizarre, bloody, thrilling conclusion.
What keeps it from flying off the rails? Ayo Edebiri’s performance as Josie is both touching enough to ground the film and weird enough to leave you in stitches (and she improvised one of the “Bottom”‘s funniest moments, when Josie imagines her future life). But the whole cast is stacked with heavy hitters, including Rachel Sennott as the totally deranged PJ, Ruby Cruz (who starred in the canceled but never forgotten “Willow” series) as their long-suffering friend Hazel, Havana Rose Liu as Josie’s cheerleader crush Isabel, and “Red, White & Royal Blue”‘s Nicholas Galitzine as an absolute jock nightmare. In director Emma Seligman’s hands, this film secures its place in the canon of teen comedy classics.