The Last Showgirl Review

Pamela Anderson shines in Gia Coppola’s drama The Last Showgirl, finally coming to UK cinemas this month…

While growing up in Las Vegas, the imagery of sexualized youth was inescapable. The showgirls donned glittering rhinestones and gigantic feathers and posed for photos with tourists on Fremont Street. The strip clubs would have freeway advertisements encouraging new graduates to try out. And, most importantly, the advertisements for the Jubilee girls at Bally’s were placed throughout town — a fixture of the city I would frequently catch while gazing out the car window. 

Writer Kate Gersten was struck with the idea of The Last Showgirl after seeing a performance of Jubilee, noting that despite a large cast and crew, there was barely anyone in the audience. The Vegas show, which first began in 1981, ultimately closed in 2016, with Bally’s following suit — turning into the Horseshoe Las Vegas and losing a bit of history with it. It wasn’t until watching this that you also think of all the people out of work when a show, let alone a whole casino, shuts down. 

Pamela Anderson portrays Shelly in the film: a woman who joined the fictitious Razzle Dazzle show during its heyday around the 80s with the hopes of becoming a dancer and honoring the era when showgirls ruled The Strip. Decades later, she is struggling to move on from the news of the show’s closure — and the fact that it has gone downhill in terms of classiness.  The city is a bubble, and Anderson’s Shelly is Peter Pan. It’s difficult to grow up when you’re sold this false sense of stardom and cling to it with all you have. Even when Shelly has been offered attempts at leaving, like meeting a guy in New York and dreaming of the Rockettes, she finds herself stuck exactly where she feels comfortable. It’s painful to watch, as you can’t help but feel bad for her, and Anderson taps into that heartbreak spectacularly. 

Anderson shines even brighter as an actress leaning into the childlike Shelly when contrasted with her daughter, Hannah, played by Billie Lourd. Although she attempted to juggle being a mother with an addiction to the spotlight, Shelly ultimately has some friends take over in raising Hannah. Yet, because of this, Hannah heads to Arizona for school and has a sense of normalcy. Once you’re out of the bubble, you see things for exactly what they are. When Hannah ultimately goes to watch Shelly’s show, she’s disappointed by it, pointing out that her mom is hidden in the very back and the seemingly wondrous theatrical run is a run-down facade. 

Shelly — and Anderson’s performance — is one of the most fascinating ones I’ve seen in a while. Maybe it’s because it feels all too familiar. Although she has a daughter by birth, she also has her showgirl daughters: Brenda Song as Marianne and Kiernan Shipka as Jodie. Despite her kindness, gentle nature, and deep passion for being an artist with a group of women, her emotional vulnerability only goes so far. Shelly refuses to help a distraught Jodie during a clear moment of need, after the young woman shows up at her house, simply because she interrupted Shelly’s dance practice.  Song and Shipka’s characters provide another reality check for the aging dancer as they try to plan their escapes and audition for other shows around town. One key one is dubbed a “Hedonistic Paradise,” a fitting title that is exactly what it sounds like, which makes Shelly disgusted that the girls are reducing themselves to nude shows and outright sexualization. The showgirl used to stand for something through her eyes, upholding a standard of elegance. 

It’s hard to talk about The Last Showgirl without also mentioning Jamie Lee Curtis’ performance as Annette. Unlike Shelly, her character is a cocktail waitress with a significant spray tan — as she also clings to an attempt at youth and her perception of a beauty standard. She struggles through the changing casino culture all the same, primarily financially, as the property appears to be older gamblers preferring younger waitresses. Annette is treated like a ghost, including in one emotional scene as she dances around to “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” There are a few older male onlookers who pause for a second, but overall, she goes unnoticed. 

Viewers only see two primary men throughout: Dave Bautista’s Eddie and Jason Schwartzman as an unnamed judge. Given the major names attached, it feels like a wild miracle that filming only took around eighteen days. The former shows off his acting chops once again, serving as the manager-of-sorts for the Razzle Dazzle and at one point, taking an interest in Shelly. But, unlike the girls, he can have a job lined up for him after the show, with a joke about how his ghost will probably haunt the theater. Unlike Shelly, he doesn’t have a shelf life. 

Schwartzman briefly appears at the end when Shelly auditions for one of the more risqué shows, only to drive her to her breaking point. Anderson breaks out an inner rage that most wouldn’t expect from her, diving down deep to react to the comment he makes about how she’s no longer sexy enough or a solid enough dancer to warrant being cast. Channeling everything she learned from an incredible run as Roxie Hart in Chicago, the tense scene finds her mocking the expectations that Schwartzman’s character seemingly had of the female auditioners. 

It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Demi Moore’s performance in The Substance, as both films overlap in themes this year. The Last Showgirl leans into the inner emotions about ageism rather than outward body horror. Visually, it’s a dreamy film from Gia Coppola, elevating the characters’ heartbreaking emotions. Shelly wanders downtown in the daytime and the bright casino lights, trying to find some semblance of self, only to return to her modest home. The film’s ending finds Anderson-as-Shelly performing in the Razzle Dazzle for the last time, as she seemingly imagines Eddie and Hannah in the audience rooting for her — clinging on to all of the last pieces of happiness. She has been lost for a long time in the delusion, and it feels tragic to wonder where she’ll go when the stage light turns off. 

★★★★★

Special Uk Previews February 10th; in UK cinemas on 25 February 2025 / Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, Dave Bautista, Billie Lourd / Dir: Gia Coppola / 15 / Picturehouse Entertainment