Before HBO’s ‘I Love LA,’ Rachel Sennott Helped Create One of the Wildest Teen Comedies of the Last 10 Years

Rachel Sennott is bringing her sharp comedic edge to Max’s new series, I Love LA. New fans are discovering her talent for skewering modern absurdity. While the series takes aim at LA’s influencer culture, Sennott has already perfected the art of satire in 2023’s cult-classic comedy, Bottoms. Bottoms didn’t just showcase Sennott’s comedy, it established the specific satirical voice she’s now bringing to I Love LA.

From 10 Things I Hate About You to She’s All That, audiences have been obsessed with teen rom-coms. Enemies to lovers? Sign me up. Love triangle? Yes, please. We all recognize the common tropes that date back to Shakespeare and beyond, but we can’t help but resist another rom-com to satisfy our hopeless romantic hearts. Knowing audiences and their obsessions with these kinds of films, lead actress Sennott and director Emma Seligman co-wrote Bottoms, a film that spoke to all of those audiences’ wants and flipped them on their head. They decided to ridicule and poke fun at all of our favorite tropes.

What Is ‘Bottoms’ About?

Starring Sennott and Ayo Edebiri, Bottoms follows two unpopular high school girls who start a fight club to lose their virginity before graduation. The movie is a satirical dark comedy about two unpopular lesbian virgins, PJ (Sennott) and Josie (Edebiri), who live in a football-obsessed town. In an attempt to win over their crushes, cheerleaders, and popular girls, Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu). Of course, the town comes with its token football quarterback, Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine), and his own posse of over-the-top teammates.

The film begins as a typical teen rom-com – two girls start a ‘club to entice their crushes to join and spend time with them. Only, it’s a ‘female empowerment’ fight club that spirals into gloriously unhinged chaos involving increasingly violent fight sequences. It’s a razor-sharp satire that’s as smart as it is ridiculous, and the perfect watch after you finish binging I Love LA.

While we are used to all the tropes we’ve seen in high school movies, Bottoms takes them to another level. From victimization to violence to small towns’ obsessions with football teams, Sennott and Seligman don’t hold any punches. For instance, a rumor is spread that PJ and Josie spent the summer in juvenile detention, which then leads to them spinning ridiculous stories of shanking and killing fellow prisoners. This is indicative of what the movie essentially does, which takes tropes like false rumors spreading through a school and makes them more absurd than we could have imagined.

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In another trope, the main popular girl is in a relationship with the obviously unpleasant high school football quarterback, but things take a new turn. Not only is he some kind of bully, which is typical, but let’s just say a situation involving a slowly moving car and Jeff, leads to a hyperbolic reaction that’s hard to forget. And not only is Jeff a bully, but he’s also a straight-up philanderer, and the movie frequently likes to joke about and point out the ridiculousness of Isabel still being with him.

Rachel Sennott and Her Satire Work in ‘Bottoms’ Is a Strong Example of Her Comedic Powers

Bottoms is a clear example of Sennott’s prowess in the world of satire. Rather than playing it safe, she always takes it a step further, as seen in I Love LA within the context of influencer culture. Moreover, Sennott’s comedic timing, paired with the high-caliber writing, created a perfect mix of satire, dark comedy, and high school rom-com, making Bottoms a fan favorite.

Thanks to incredible comedic chemistry between Sennott and Edebiri, it’s hard to take your eyes off the screen. Despite the silliness of the many happenings within the film, Sennott and Edebiri manage to ground the story in reality. It never feels campy for shock value; instead, it’s smartly written comedy that keeps you laughing throughout the film’s hour-and-a-half runtime.

What makes Bottoms so essential is that it doesn’t just mock the teen rom-com genre; it reclaims it. The film reminds us why we fell in love with teen comedies in the first place while daring us to expect more from them. After Sennott’s comedic tour de force in Bottoms, her sharp satirical voice in I Love LA feels like the natural next step. If you’re still craving that same blend of absurdity and intelligence, Bottoms is the perfect companion watch that proves Sennott has been perfecting this formula all along.

Bottoms is currently streaming on Netflix, AppleTV and Prime.

Release Date

August 25, 2023

Runtime

92 Minutes

Director

Emma Seligman

Writers

Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott