'The Last Showgirl': A Glittering Farewell with One Final Bow
By Alivia Stonier
The Last Showgirl (2024) is a cinematic masterpiece that captures the story after the credits typically roll. It begs the question: what happens after our biggest moments, and how do our passions continue to shape us?
Gia Coppola once again delivers a beautiful story, this time following the life of Shelly Gardner, a dancer who has been part of Le Razzle Dazzle, a revue show inspired by its French roots, since her twenties. Thirty years later, over dinner, Shelly learns that the show will be permanently closing, with only a few performances left at the casino. It has been replaced by a circus, which has proven more popular with audiences in Vegas.
Pamela Anderson gives a passionate and genuine performance as Shelly’s dream unravels. While trying to rebuild her relationship with her daughter, we watch as she reevaluates the life she sacrificed for the stage.
Looked up to as a mother figure by Jodie, a nineteen-year-old dancer navigating the industry alone, and a close friend to Mary, Shelly has formed a trio with the two women as they lean on each other to find a new path forward.
This powerful storytelling is underscored by gorgeous cinematography shot on film. With a rich, intimate view of lights and dancing, the visuals deepen the emotional impact. Many sequences feel like snapshots pulled from a memory book, making the setting of Vegas, an already adored city, transcend the screen and feel like home, the same way it does for the women the film follows.
The film also savors moments of personal introspection, whether women are dancing on casino tables or alone in the street when no one is watching. These scenes explore who we are when no one else is looking and how we continue to shine, even in the quietest corners of the world.
As younger dancers gravitate toward more sexualized, hedonistic performances, the film places the desire for youth under a microscope. This theme is established in the opening scene, where Shelly nervously auditions for a role and lies about her age, placing herself on stage outside of the casino walls for the first time in years.
Mary, despite being young, is turned away from a job for not being freshly eighteen, while Jodie learns increasingly provocative routines. Shelly pushes back against these performances, arguing that while Le Razzle Dazzle is a “nudie” show, something her estranged daughter sees as cheap, it remains tasteful, rooted in the early history of nudity in entertainment.
Rejecting the modern notions of what it means to be sexy, Shelly remains respected even by her younger counterparts that don't understand her rigidity, and her show tech that she has a complicated past with tries to act as a figure of comfort.
The Last Showgirl beautifully illustrates the fine line between empowerment and sexualization. It showcases that while a performer’s life may be filled with glamour, rhinestones, and feathers, it can also be weighed down by the crushing pressures of perfection and the loss of familial ties.
The ensemble cast delivers heartfelt performances, keeping the film’s world alive with believable and lovable dynamics. Even if you’ve never set foot in the world of showgirls, you find yourself completely enamored and crying along with them.
Girlhood and uplifting each other up is also at the center of this film; whether it's helping each other clasp on their necklaces or staying on each other's couches when things are looking rough, it's clear that these talented women have built a support system around each other.
Though Shelly’s attempts at reconciliation with family are not always successful, the film powerfully demonstrates the lasting impact of our choices. Despite everything, she never stops encouraging her daughter to chase her passions, no matter what anyone says. Their complicated relationship is portrayed with care and nuance by both Anderson and Billie Lourd.
Coppola shines a light on women who continue to make ends meet, even past the age when society pushes them to retire. Whether it's working the tables in the casino and being considered too old to work the floor or actually being at the center of attention, no one's story is overlooked.
In the end, Shelly finishes her final show with a smile. The Last Showgirl is as empowering as it is heartbreaking and proves to be a film that lingers long after the curtain falls.
