To celebrate the wide release (and early success) of “Bottoms,” Seligman posted on Instagram the story of how she and Sennott committed to making “Bottoms” (and including their mutual friend, Ayo Edebiri) back in 2017. The first picture shows Sennott posing with the whiteboard on which they outlined the film. Take a look to see if you can spot differences from the final cut.
As Seligman tells it, she and Sennott spent six years writing the film across locations such as “various [New York University] buildings, west village coffee shops, our apartments, over zoom for a year.” She closes the post with the plea, “Support loser queers and girlfailures by getting yourself a ticket.”
During this long writing process on “Bottoms,” Seligman turned her student short “Shiva Baby” into a feature. In both versions, Sennott plays Danielle, an aimless college student who runs into her ex (Molly Gordon in the feature) and her sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari) at a shiva. The film worked because it was so close to reality; despite the specific cultural backdrop, the setting of an uncomfortable family gathering is one that anyone can relate to. To reflect Danielle’s anxieties, Seligman frames her shots tightly and sometimes zeroes out the sound, creating a sense of claustrophobia right out of a horror film.
“Bottoms,” on the other hand, is absurd. The outlandish, mile-a-minute comedy is more akin to the stars’ comedy shorts, “Ayo and Rachel Are Single.” This movie-to-movie tonal shift proves Seligman’s directing talents are flexible and reaffirms Sennott and Edebiri as two of the brightest rising stars in movies (and TV) today.
“Bottoms” is playing in theaters.