What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedBottoms
Emma Seligman · Film · 2023
If you loved Bottoms, start with Sex Education (Laurie Nunn, 2019) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Bottoms across media.
If you loved the chaotic, messy, and razor-sharp satire of Bottoms, you will enjoy these stories about navigating high school absurdity.
Books on the same thread
Heartstopper, Vol. 1
Alice Oseman · Book
Shares 2 threads with Bottoms: self-discovery, coming-of-age.
Like Bottoms, this story centers on the messy realities of high school self-discovery, capturing the nervous, heart-tugging energy of navigating queer identity and social dynamics during your formative years.
Ghost World
Daniel Clowes · Book · 2001
Shares a thread with Bottoms: Female friendship.
Enid and Becky share the cynical, outsider bond that drives the protagonists of Bottoms, exploring the biting wit and existential dread that comes with being a teenage girl.
Idlewild
James Frankie Thomas · Book · 2023
Shares 2 threads with Bottoms: Coming-of-Age, Dark Comedy.
This story captures the same darkly funny, intense female friendship found in Bottoms, reflecting on the queer experience within the high-stakes, often absurd environment of a private school.
Guts
Raina Telgemeier · Book · 2019
Shares a thread with Bottoms: coming-of-age.
The internal anxiety and search for courage in this memoir echo the desperate, high-pressure schemes of the protagonists in Bottoms as they try to survive the social battlefield.
Series on the same thread
Sex Education
Laurie Nunn · Series · 2019
Shares 2 threads with Bottoms: Social Awkwardness, Self-Discovery.
Just as the characters in Bottoms launch a ridiculous club to navigate their desires, this series features an underground school clinic driven by the same awkward, comedic ambition.
Derry Girls
Lisa McGee · Series · 2018
Shares a thread with Bottoms: Female friendship.
Derry Girls mirrors the satirical, high-energy tone of Bottoms, showcasing a group of friends who face the universal absurdity of teenage life while surrounded by chaotic external circumstances.
Euphoria
Sam Levinson · Series · 2019
Shares a thread with Bottoms: Coming-of-Age.
If the intense, high-stakes drama of Bottoms kept you hooked, this series offers a darker, more visceral look at the complex friendships and identities that define the high school experience.
Overcompensating
Benito Skinner · Series · 2025
Shares 2 threads with Bottoms: Social awkwardness, Insecurity.
This comedy captures the same desperate need to fit in that fuels the plot of Bottoms, focusing on the hilarious, often painful social maneuvers of being a closeted teenager.
Podcasts on the same thread
Betches Video Club
Podcast
Explores: Film Criticism, Humorous Discussion, Pop Culture.
Fans of the sharp-witted dialogue and pop culture commentary in Bottoms will appreciate this podcast, which delivers equally unfiltered opinions and humorous analysis of the films you love.
coco in the powder room
Podcast
Shares a thread with Bottoms: Female friendship.
This podcast mirrors the honest, conversational chemistry between the best friends in Bottoms, offering a space for the same kind of unfiltered girl talk and shared, chaotic vulnerability.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Bottoms a movie about a self-defense club?
Yes, Bottoms is a 2023 film directed by Emma Seligman that follows two unpopular best friends who start a high school self-defense club. Their primary goal in forming the club is to meet girls and lose their virginity, but the situation escalates when popular students begin fighting each other.
What happens in the plot of Bottoms?
In Bottoms, best friends PJ and Josie create a self-defense club at their high school as a way to get closer to girls. The plan quickly spirals out of control when the school's most popular students start physically fighting each other under the guise of the club's self-defense activities.
Who directed the movie Bottoms?
The 2023 movie Bottoms was directed by Emma Seligman. The film centers on two unpopular best friends who launch a high school self-defense club to attract girls and lose their virginity, only to find themselves in over their heads as the popular students turn the club into a venue for fighting.
Why do the main characters start a club in Bottoms?
The main characters in Bottoms start a self-defense club because they are unpopular best friends looking for a way to meet girls and lose their virginity. The situation becomes complicated when the popular students join and begin beating each other up in the name of the club's self-defense mission.