Before The Bear season 3 is released, there is no better time to revisit star Ayo Edebiri’s acclaimed, if under-seen, 2023 comedy Bottoms. The Bear season 3 arrives on June 27 and expectations are high for the critically adored dramedy’s third outing. The Bear has launched its stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach to new heights, with each of the show’s lead actors signing on to exciting new projects since the series began. Since The Bear season 2’s ending, Jeremy Allen White impressed critics with his central turn in the wrestling biopic The Iron Claw.

Moss-Bachrach, meanwhile, has been cast in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot alongside Stranger Things breakout star Joseph Quinn. However, it is not just the actors from The Bear’s Berzatto family who are benefiting from the show’s profile boost. Big Mouth star Ayo Edebiri won critical acclaim as Carmy’s ambitious sous chef Sydney, and the actor recently played supporting roles in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Inside Out 2. Neither of these were Edebiri’s most acclaimed turn, though. That honor went to a performance that couldn’t have been further in tone from The Bear’s earnest, heartfelt dramedy.

Ayo Edebiri’s Bottoms Role Proves How Good She Is In The Bear

2023’s Anarchic High School Comedy Is An Instant Cult Classic

Edebiri starred as an unpopular high school senior in 2023’s teen comedy Bottoms, a raucous, raunchy spoof of 2000s teen movies that was also a loving homage to the genre. Bottoms followed Edebiri’s Josie and Rachel Sennott’s PJ as the pair concocted an absurd scheme to attract popular cheerleaders by setting up an all-female fight club. Bottoms’ over-the-top parody of teen movie clichés was a critical success, with director Emma Seligman’s movie earning an impressive 90% rating from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately, Edebiri’s star vehicle flew under the radar due to its limited release, although it performed well regardless.

Bottoms was deservedly beloved by critics and, with an 89% audience rating, it is fair to say that the movie impressed viewers too. Sadly, although Bottoms kept Edebiri’s incredible Rotten Tomatoes streak alive, Seligman’s comedy inexplicably received limited cinema showings instead of a wide release. Bottoms earned over $11 million at the box office despite playing on less than 2,000 screens, an astounding achievement for an indie comedy made all the more impressive by the timing of its release. Bottoms arrived in late August when the summer blockbuster season was still very much underway, but still carved out a niche.

Bottoms’ RT Score Shows It Deserved A Wider Release

The Indie Comedy Performed Exceedingly Well

Bottoms is one of the best teen comedies of the last decade, combining an outlandish satire of the genre’s familiar tropes with a hilarious underdog story. Sennott and Edebiri are both charismatic in their central roles and, even in its most poignant moments, Bottoms never downplays its inherently goofy, cartoony sense of humor. By Bottoms’ ending, Edebiri’s versatility is self-evident. The star is just as at home in the freewheeling, self-referential silliness of the teen comedy as she is in The Bear’s naturalism. Although The Bear star’s movie wasn’t very widely seen, Bottoms still proved Edebiri has a bright future.