BOTTOMS - Comedy Film Fest at FOMO Cinema

Emma Seligman | 2023 | USA | 1h31m | English audio with English subtitles

Emma Seligman’s BOTTOMS was sold like a wild high school comedy, but that description only tells part of the story. Yes, the setup is ridiculous, two girls start a fight club in order to get closer to the cheerleaders they are obsessed with, but the film is funniest when you watch it less as a youth movie and more as a piece of adult comic insanity. Its jokes are filthy, aggressive, knowingly stupid, and delivered with the kind of precision that makes the whole thing feel like a satire of teen-movie logic rather than a sincere example of it.

A lot of the pleasure comes from the cast. Rachel Sennott is excellent, and Ayo Edebiri, who many people will know and love from THE BEAR, brings exactly the right mix of panic, awkwardness, and total commitment. The ensemble around them understands the tone perfectly, which is why the film keeps getting funnier as it gets more absurd.

After how well SHIVA BABY played here last week, I thought it made perfect sense to show Seligman’s latest comedy as well. Where SHIVA BABY traps its characters in social anxiety and pressure-cooker discomfort, BOTTOMS goes wider, louder, and more openly ridiculous, but you can still feel the same comic intelligence underneath it.

WHY I'VE INCLUDED IT IN THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM: Because Emma Seligman is one of the most exciting new comic voices around, and after the response to SHIVA BABY it felt like the right moment to follow it with something bigger, dirtier, and more unhinged. BOTTOMS may wear the clothes of a school comedy, but it really lands best with an adult audience that can appreciate just how sharp and deranged its sense of humor really is.

LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.

HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to the first floor. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17933106294029235/