'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' review: A hilarious and cringe-worthy look at 2020
Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen exploded onto movie screens in 2006 with the political comedy “Borat”, a lightning-in-a-bottle look at American culture viewed through the eyes of a fictional and naïve foreign reporter. Cohen’s portrayal of news correspondent Borat Sagdiyev was childlike and exuberant as he traveled from rodeos to high-society events, giving his subjects plenty of rope to hang themselves with as they expose their true natures. Lightning doesn’t strike twice in Cohen’s sequel “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”, but it comes close, as it delivers some of the biggest laughs and uncomfortable squirms you’ll have watching a movie.
The new film picks up shortly where the original left off, in the aftermath of Borat’s worldwide success and embarrassment of his home base, Kazakhstan. It turns out the Kazakh government isn’t pleased with Borat’s antics but, after some tricky negotiations, give him a chance at redemption. The top secret mission involves him returning to America to gift Vice President Mike Pence Kazakhstan’s greatest sex monkey as a token of respect. The way they see it, presenting notorious ladies man Pence (because he can’t be left alone with a woman) with their prized celebrity will put the Kazakh government back in the USA’s good graces. Things obviously don’t go as planned and Borat is left to improvise and misunderstand American culture.
The first bump in the road comes when Johnny the sex Monkey is replaced by Borat’s own daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova). She’s never been out of Kazakhstan and jumps at the chance of visiting America and following in the footsteps of her idol Melania Trump by marrying rich and escaping poverty for good. Borat may not get Tutar to be the next Melania but he smells an opportunity that will get her close enough to the finish line. That convoluted plan hilariously keeps changing throughout the course of the film but involves (among other things) a makeover, a horrific fertility dance and infiltrating a Republican convention dressed in a full Ku Klux Klan robe.
All of the pieces of their manic road trip culminate with the scene of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” that everyone is talking about: ex-mayor Rudy Guiliani literally caught with his pants down with an underage Tutar in a hotel room. How far the scene goes into detail will be up for debate, but it’s impossible to deny the lengths Cohen and company have gone to satirize their political targets.
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” was rushed into production to premiere before the November election and even has a Covid-heavy angle that will ring true for many of its viewers. Cohen’s gags come at a mile a minute and, while some of them don’t land as well as others, the ones that do will leave you howling with laughter and replaying certain scenes to make sure what you’re seeing is actually happening.
Rating: B+
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.
