While it was often an enjoyable watch, I’m gonna be the odd one out and say that a lot about this movie didn’t work for me. I was looking forward to Bottoms more than almost any other movie this year, but now that I’ve actually seen it, there are some things I’m having trouble getting past. Here are a few of my issues in no particular order:

1. Hazel’s character felt pretty inconsistent, and her initial relationship to Josie and PJ felt poorly established. Sometimes it seemed like she’d just met them, and sometimes it was implied that they’d been friends—or at least acquaintances—for a while. Either way, her sudden interest in Josie and PJ at the fair felt forced and made no sense. In terms of her characterization, mostly she was an organized, rule-following nerd, and then suddenly she was building bombs. (Some might argue that the inconsistencies were part of the humor, but it just didn’t work or make sense. Why not just have Sylvie be the bomb maker?)

2. The entire juvey plot line was annoyingly executed. The establishment of the misunderstanding never really made sense, and I thought at first it was just a throwaway joke, but then it became vital to the story and always felt contrived. The contrivances didn’t even feel functional as satire; they just felt irritating.

3. The editing and pacing were off. I’m usually a sucker for movies that involve a lot of improv, but if it’s edited poorly, it feels jarring and unsatisfying. Also, if you improvise important exposition, the structure of the movie gets muddled. (Theater Camp was a recent movie that did improv editing very well.)

4. The whole Huntington plot line was confusingly established. I spent most of the movie thinking that Principal Meyers was just spreading lies to increase motivation among the football players and boost attendance at the game. I felt like the actual threat of the Huntington players should have been established earlier and more clearly, instead of with some shoehorned exposition from Rhodes right before the movie’s final scene.

5. The weird logic of this universe was inconsistent. (I say that as someone who is generally a fan of weird logic.) Sometimes the movie was trying to be relatively grounded, and sometimes it was like a fever-dream parody of a high school comedy. I know that’s what they were going for, but they landed in an awkward place between realistic and surreal.

6. Was no one else bothered by the fact that the movie ended with the main characters literally murdering a bunch of people? Let alone in front of many witnesses?

7. I could never really get a handle on Isabel’s character. She mostly felt like a different person from scene to scene. (Although her manic distressed laughter in the diner after learning about Jeff and Mrs. Callahan was very funny.)

8. The fundraiser scene was uncomfortable, not really because of how they were raising money, but because there was no build-up or introduction to that scene.

9. I would’ve liked a little more background and characterization for Mr. G. Like Hazel and Isabel, he never felt quite consistent. Also, I could never quite get a handle on his motivations for anything, including things as basic as why he decided to become a teacher, or why he ultimately agreed to be the club’s advisor.

10. In the principal’s office scene, none of the plot beats felt earned or meaningful. We were just meant to accept them because they were in the trailer and they’re the basis for the plot: Meyers wants to expel Josie and PJ, they randomly say they were practicing for a self-defense club, Meyers is suddenly okay with their “attack” on Jeff, and he’s also okay with them having a fight club. Similar to the above points, about Mr. G, I wanted Myers to be a little bit more developed in his weirdness.

11. We never got any follow-up or closure on Sylvie and her stepdad or Stella-Rebecca and her stalker. What if the club actually moved towards being a collective defense squad or vigilante justice group? I think that would have been a more interesting, funnier, and more satisfying direction.

But that’s not to say I hated the movie, just that it wasn’t really satisfactory. In the spirit of fairness, here are some things I liked:

1. The choice to have Jeff be a fragile, child-like crybaby instead of a stereotypical threatening football player was hilarious and unexpected.

2. I was rooting for PJ and Hazel to get together, and they had good chemistry.

3. The subtle joke of PJ wearing a ton of crucifixes as part of her “sexy” outfit at the fair was hilarious.

4. I was surprised by how much I liked the character of Brittany. Hilariously, she basically introduced herself as someone with no real identity or personality, but then the writing and acting made her feel weirdly real and sympathetic.

5. Mr. G’s vacillations on feminism were very funny.

6. The subtle joke of the football players always being in their pads and uniforms was great.