5 Best Movies to Watch by Ayo Edebiri

The sooner you accept that Bottoms is not, in fact, rooted in reality in any way, the easier it should become to get on its wavelength for its uniquely absurd brand of comedy. This is ostensibly a satire, though it isn't totally clear what exactly the film is trying to comment on. And its loosely defined world makes it challenging to get emotionally invested in any of the characters' failures or victories. But it does—more than any comedy we'll probably get in a while—capture this feeling of high school being its own heightened, insulated world, where the class system of strict high school stereotypes clashes with the unchecked id and ego of teenagers who think they're more grown-up than they really are.

Director and co-writer Emma Seligman gives this movie a certain sheen that you rarely find in comedies this lowbrow (care of lush cinematography by Maria Rusche, and a bumping electronic score by Leo Birenberg and pop star Charli XCX). This contrast between polished exteriors and unapologetically raunchy content makes the jokes all the more startling—which are delivered by a cast clearly having great fun. Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri stick to their cringe-comedy skill set to great effect, while Ruby Cruz and Havana Rose Liu shine with deceptively tricky material, and Nicholas Galitzine gets to be a himbo for the ages.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Alyssa Matthews, Ayo Edebiri, Bruno Rose, Cameron Stout, Dagmara Domińczyk, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Krystal Alayne Chambers, Liz Elkins Newcomer, Marshawn Lynch, Miles Fowler, Nicholas Galitzine, Punkie Johnson, Rachel Sennott, Ruby Cruz, Ted Ferguson, Toby Nichols, Virginia Tucker, Wayne Pére, Zamani Wilder

Director: Emma Seligman

Rating: R

College seems to be teeming with possibility, in a more substantial way than adulthood or high school feels, since for many people, it’s the only time where one lives alone and makes decisions for their lives selfishly. Shithouse captures that moment with a candid sentimentality, all marked by a shared late night that changes the way the whole college life feels. Cooper Raiff captures this time of a freshman uncertainty with actual palpable emotions, acting, writing, and directing with a freshness that filmmakers aspire to but never seem to get on screen, and it’s this mumblecore-inspired feature debut that made him a filmmaker to look out for. Shithouse is pure college nostalgia.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Abby Quinn, Adam Foster Ballard, Adan Rocha, Amy Landecker, Ashley Padilla, Ayo Edebiri, Chinedu Unaka, Chris Kleckner, Colin McCalla, Cooper Raiff, Denny McAuliffe, Dylan Gelula, Eva Victor, Grant Harling, Jay Duplass, Joy Sunday, Juan Wood, Leonora Pitts, Logan Miller, Mallory Low, Nick Saso, Olivia Scott Welch, Tessa Hope Slovis, Tre Hall, Will Youmans

Director: Cooper Raiff

Rating: R

When you know that you’re dying, it’s quite lucky to be stuck in a time loop, which is what happens to Zoya Lowe in the science fiction drama Omni Loop. It plays out in a familiar way, where going through the loop means having multiple tries to figure out how to end the loop, and learning the lesson the loop has to offer, but unlike other time loop stories, the lead purposely triggers the time loop, in order to stave off death. It's an interesting addition, one that makes a well-worn, but understandable conclusion to let go and move on, but Omni Loop struggles to balance the comedy and the drama, muddling the film’s tone and being tame for a film primarily concerned about mortality.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction

Actor: Amanda Tavarez, Ayo Edebiri, Carlos Jacott, Chris Witaske, Diana Garle, Eddie Cahill, Hannah Pearl Utt, Harris Yulin, James Healy Jr., Jennifer Bassey, Maddison Bullock, Mary-Louise Parker, Mike Benitez, Rick Moose, Roberto Escobar, Steven Maier

Director: Bernardo Britto