High school sex comedies
Bottoms is a hilarious sex comedy that focuses on PJ and Josie, two queer best friends taking advantage of their label as thugs and creating a fight club to get with the hottest girls in school. Reminiscent of the sex comedies of the early 2000s, Bottoms is a light-hearted but witty satire on the genre.
If you’ve finished watching this and are looking for alternate picks – we’ve got you covered. We’ve dug through the archives to find a whole bunch of different movies that cover a similar range of themes, from coming-of-age tales to LGBT+ representation.
Well without further wait, here are 10 movies with a similar premise to watch if you liked Bottoms.
American Pie (1999)
Similarities – high school, sex comedy, friendship
American Pie is a teen comedy film that follows the lives of four high school friends, Jim, Kevin, Oz, and Finch. Much like PJ and Josie, they decide to do whatever they can to get laid before they finish high school. The story revolves around their humorous and often embarrassing attempts to achieve this goal.
If you found some similarities between Bottoms and American Pie, you’re not the only one. The former pretty much takes the formula of these mainstream high school sex comedies and subverts them with a female and queer lens.
Superbad (2007)
Similarities – high school, sex comedy, friendship, misadventures
The same goes for Superbad, where we get the male and less cooler version of PJ and Josie trying to get laid. In this coming-of-age comedy, two inseparable high school friends, Seth and Evan are about to graduate and go their separate ways to college.
They decide to make the most of their remaining days in high school by attending a wild party. The film follows their misadventures as they try to acquire alcohol for the party and pursue their romantic interests, leading to a series of comedic and chaotic situations.
Easy A (2010)
Similarities – high school, sex comedy, friendship, angst
Where Bottoms takes inspiration from Fight Club, Easy A gives us a hilarious and plucky version of The Scarlet Letter. It follows Olive Penderghast, a high school student who pretends to have a more active romantic life than she actually does.
When a rumour spreads that she’s promiscuous, Olive decides to embrace her newfound notoriety and takes on the persona of the school’s “easy girl”, much like our quirky and loveable troublemakers from Bottoms. Honestly, we firmly believe that PJ and Olive would have been besties with Olive taking the fight club even further.
But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)
Similarities – teens, sex comedy, satire, LGBT+
But I’m a Cheerleader is a satirical comedy that centres on Megan, a high school cheerleader who is sent to a conversion therapy camp after her parents suspect that she might be a lesbian. At the camp, not unlike PJ and Josie’s fight club, Megan meets other LGBTQ+ teens, and she begins to question her sexual orientation and the absurdity of the camp’s efforts to change her.
Happiest Season (2020)
Similarities – rom-com, angst, LGBT+
Happiest Season is a romantic comedy that follows Abby and Harper, a lesbian couple who plan to spend the holidays with Harper’s family. The catch is that Harper hasn’t come out to her family yet. As they navigate this situation, chaos and hijinks ensue as Abby tries to fit into the image of Harper’s perfect girlfriend while dealing with her own feelings and the expectations of the holiday season.
The To Do List (2013)
Similarities – teens, sex comedy, misadventures
The To Do List is a coming-of-age comedy set in the 1990s. It follows Brandy Klark, a high-achieving high school student who decides to create a “to-do list” of sexual experiences to gain more life experience before going to college. Her attempts to check off various sexual encounters from her list wittily parallels Bottoms’ fight club as PJ and Josie try and get laid.
Love, Simon (2018)
Similarities – high school, rom-com, friendship, LGBT+
Love, Simon is a coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama which follows Simon Spier, a closeted gay high school student who starts chatting with another closeted but anonymous student known as “Blue.” The film follows Simon’s journey of self-acceptance, coming out, and the search for his secret pen pal’s identity.
Alex Strangelove (2018)
Similarities – high school, rom-com, friendship, LGBT+
Alex Strangelove is a coming-of-age comedy-drama about high school student Alex Truelove, who is in a committed relationship with his girlfriend Claire but begins to question his own sexual identity. The film explores Alex’s journey of self-discovery and his interactions with other students who help him explore his feelings.
The Half of It (2020)
Similarities – high school, rom-com, friendship, LGBT+
The Half of It is a coming-of-age drama with romantic elements, following Ellie Chu, a shy and intelligent student who helps a jock, Paul, write love letters to a girl they both have feelings for. As Ellie and Paul become friends, their complex relationships, including Ellie’s unspoken romantic attraction to the same girl become the core of the conflict.
Booksmart (2019)
Similarities – high school, misadventures, friendship, LGBT+
Booksmart, a coming-of-age comedy, follows two high-achieving high-school friends, Molly and Amy. They realize they’ve missed out on the social aspects of high school and decide to make up for it in one night, resulting in wild and humorous adventures as they experience everything they’ve missed before graduation, much like PJ and Josie’s journey.
So there we have it, our 10 movie alternatives to watch when you’re finished watching Bottoms.
What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!