Bottoms | 2023 | R | – 5.5.10

Why is “Bottoms” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “crude sexual content, pervasive language and some violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of implied sex scenes, several teen kissing scenes, several references to wanting to have sex and pining for people, references to pornography, several fight scenes leaving people with bloody facial wounds, discussions of empowering women, several arguments, a break-up, and nearly 80 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Two teen friends (Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott) since elementary school are committed to finishing their high school career by having sex with the people they have been pining for and their plan to make that happen is to start a fight club for women. Also with Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Miles Fowler and Marshawn Lynch. Directed by Emma Seligman. [Running Time: 1:32]

Bottoms SEX/NUDITY 5

 – We hear sexual moaning and sounds of climax as a teen returns home; she calls upstairs to her mother, and she comes out of her room wearing a sheer negligee followed by a teen boy wearing briefs (we see her legs and cleavage and his bare chest and abdomen). Two teen girls flirt and sit on a bed in one girl’s room; they kiss tenderly, and then passionately and take their tops off (one teen is shown wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants and the other wears a bra and a skirt and we see bare shoulders and cleavage); they lie back on the bed kissing and one girl lies on top of the other as the scene ends (sex is implied).
► Two teen girls kiss tenderly. Two teen girls kiss in front of crowded bleachers at a football game as a distraction. Two teen girls do their homework on a bed, one leans to kiss the other and the other tells her, “I’m straight.”
► A teen girl tries awkwardly to flirt with another teen girl that she likes. When accused of cheating on his girlfriend a teen boy admits to having glanced at a woman and gently grazed her breast. A teen girl jumps into a teen boy’s arms in a few scenes; he says, “I’m so strong,” in one scene. Several teen football players thrust their hips suggestively toward a crowd in the bleachers and teen cheerleaders later do the same thing.
► A teen girl says that she is straight, but that “I just like gay porn.” A teen girl asks several other teens, “Who has been raped?” A teen girl talks about imagining another teen girl kissing her “on the mouth.” A teen girl talks about another teen girl that she is pining over and that that girl is presently dating a teen boy. A teen girl talks about finally being developed and wanting to have sex (using crude descriptive terms) before leaving high school. A teen girl talks about what she fears her life will be: she imagines that she would get pregnant and marry a gay pastor and their child would hate them. Teens talk about their high school having “… such a gay problem.” People talk about “relationship drama.” A man talks about going through a divorce.
► A teacher looks at a pornographic magazine while in the classroom (we see the cover that depicts a woman wearing underwear that reveals her bare back and buttocks). Posters of teen football players accentuate players’ genitals and sexually suggestive phrases are printed on them. Teen cheerleaders at a pep rally wear short skirts and cropped, tight-fitting tops (we see bare legs to the upper thighs and partial abdomens) and one girl stands in front of the rest as two bottles of water are poured over her head. A teen girl wears a tight-fitting blouse that reveals her nipples through the fabric. Teen girls wear low-cut tops, cropped tops and short skirts that reveal cleavage, bare abdomens and legs to the upper thighs in many scenes. Someone carries a blowup female doll in the background of a scene. A large wall hanging depicts two teen boys nude (we see bare chests, abdomens and legs, with genitals obscured) and reclining in a nature setting. A football team’s mascot seems to have a large penis attached to the front of his costume; he thrusts toward a player lying on the field.

Bottoms VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A teen girl is called to the gym floor from the bleachers in front of a crowd, she is told that she will have to fight a teen boy that arrives in a large cage and he roars aggressively as he approaches her; he charges her and she trips him (he falls on the floor), he picks her up and throws her on the floor, she punches and kicks him (she has a bloody nose and mouth and spits blood on the floor), she is thrown to the floor and the teen boy kicks her hard in the face. Several teen football players hold an opposing football player down on the field preparing to douse him with something that he is allergic to; several teen girls charge them and fight with the attackers kicking and punching them and leaving most with bloody faces and motionless on the field.
► A few scenes show teen girls circling each other, throwing punches that miss, pushing each other and kicking each other; one teen kicks another in the shin and the other returns with a kick to the buttock, a teen punches another teen in the stomach, another slaps another hard in the face and another punches another in the nose (we see some blood). A practice scene includes a head-butt, punches and body slams with teens later shown with cuts and bruises on their faces. A teen girl punches another teen girl in the face; we see her fall back onto the floor with blood on her nose and mouth and the other girl holds her hand in pain. Two teen girls push each other, they fall on the floor and push each other again (no injuries are seen).
► A teen boy chases a teen girl in a parking lot and she accuses him of cheating on her; he stands in front of a car that starts moving and stops short of his leg, and he collapses on the ground yelling and holding his knee as other teen boys rush to his side (we later see him on crutches). A teen girl marches toward a teen boy and accuses him of cheating on her “again,” and he denies it but is caught in his lie; she breaks up with him and storms out of the room. A teen girl tells another teen in front of others that she has no friends and makes a crude remark about her mother (the offended teen leaves the room and cries). Two teen girls argue bitterly and one storms out.
► A teen girl suggests planting a bomb under someone’s car to get revenge. Teens talk about an opposing football team being violent and that they will attack and hurt them (making a few references to sexual assault and a woman describes that they have hurt football players in the past by burning them, drowning them, etc.). Teens talk about trauma and one says that she will reverse stalk her stalker and another says that she will kill her stepfather. A teen girl complains about the police not taking her seriously when she reports being stalked. A teen girl pounds on the floor and yells at other teens gathered for a club meeting. Two teen girls argue with their principal about the treatment of football players and their being held in such high regard. A teen girl asks several other teens, “Who has been raped?” A teen girl tells another teen girl that her boyfriend is cheating on her with a friend’s mother; the cheated upon girl moans, cries and pounds her head on a table. A man says, “Women are evil.” A teen girl imagines meeting another teen girl years in the future and that the other teen would look aged and tired. Teen girls talk about having been in “juvie” and describe fights that they had including one girl killing another girl (these are made-up stories). A teen girl says that she was “hazed horrifically” in juvenile detention. A teen girl says that her mother is going through a midlife crisis after going through a divorce. A teen girl alludes to needing to go purge after drinking a soda and she says that she doesn’t eat. A remark is made about someone needing to throw up (we do not see anyone throwing up). A teen girl asks another teen girl, “Did you period yourself?”
► Several teen girls throw eggs and toilet paper at a teen boy’s house (we see eggs running down a window); one teen girl plants explosives under the teen boy’s car, sets the timer and it explodes in flames as she runs away. A teen girl plants an explosive on a large tree and it later blows up (no one is harmed but the tree is engulfed in flames). A teen boy yells at a food service person about serving him food that he is allergic to and another teen throws the food on another teen sitting nearby.

Bottoms LANGUAGE 10

 – About 79 F-words and its derivatives, 3 obscene hand gesture, 16 sexual references, 32 scatological terms, 17 anatomical terms, 9 mild obscenities, 2 derogatory terms for gay people painted on school lockers, name-calling (washed up, old hag, evil, big losers, girl virgin, juvie, ugly, dogs, weasel, [sexual reference deleted] freak, horrible, weirdly, selfish, super Christian, pathetic, gay Yoda, skank, ungrateful, liar, nerd, meat-head, cry baby, insane, idiot, exploited, fake hero, stressed, regular old guy, skinny mini, gross, psychotic, disgusting, pigs), exclamations (shut-up, dang, shush, buck up, are you kidding me), 2 religious profanities (GD), 20 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, God, Jesus, God bless, Holy [scatological term deleted], I love God). | profanity glossary |

Bottoms SUBSTANCE USE

 – A teen girl makes a remark about someone else “huffing paint.” A woman tells a teen girl that there is whiskey in a cup she has given her as she takes a sip and recoils. A woman smokes a cigar.

Bottoms DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Feeling part of a group, loneliness, popularity, high school football, revenge, empowering women, safe spaces, guilt.

Bottoms MESSAGE

 – It’s sometimes hard to fit in, but people can come together for a common cause.