The Last Showgirl (2024) Movie Review: A Star Reborn or a Fading Light? 

This 88-minute film shows us what it could achieve with brilliant stars and an impressive story, yet it leaves little behind—just a crack in the wall where the whole wall needed to be torn apart. Gia Coppola’s latest feature, The Last Showgirl (2024) follows a legendary showgirl in LA who, after more than 30  years of experience, finds herself defending her career, her reputation, her life, and, most of all, herself.

Pamela Anderson plays the protagonist, Shelly Gardner, a 57-year-old showgirl who has worked at Le Razzle Dazzle for over three decades. The platform is the last of its kind— a French-style revue at a casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip. Shelly is vulnerable yet kind to everyone around her in the beginning. One day, she receives heart-breaking news from her producer that her show is coming to an end. She has only a few more weeks left on stage—the platform that means everything to her. It’s not just about longevity; performing is her passion. She adores the costumes, the dance,  the stage, the spotlight—she wants to be seen. But she is old now. Her identity is wrapped up in being a showgirl. And beyond that, her livelihood depends on it. Fighting for what she loves is just as crucial as getting paid for it.

Throughout the film, a 22-year-old photography enthusiast always addresses her as  “Shelly,” but Shelly longs for her to be proud of her mother. When Shelly leaves a voicemail for her daughter, she is already in deep turmoil; her house is on the verge of being burnt down to ashes. But her daughter, who goes through a lot to process her life and her mom’s, meets Shelly for coffee, then for dinner.

Shelly desperately tries to reconnect with her daughter while continuing to defend her own choices. Eventually, she reaches a breaking point where she can only lean in one direction—accept and surrender to her daughter or keep defending herself. Instead of pleading, Shelly walks away from her daughter—an act that paradoxically reinforces her commitment to her choices, when her daughter finally comes to see her show and is confronted with brutally honest feedback; “a nude dancing” thinks the daughter.

Most people look down on this profession.

Even those in similar fields see Shelly as untrained and past her prime. But Shelly refuses to accept this—she is in love with the profession. It is all she knows, all she cares about, aside from her daughter. When Hannah is unsure of her future career, despite being broke and in the middle of an existential crisis, Shelly still speaks passionately about art and the importance of doing what we love. Yes, sometimes we have to take jobs we don’t love, jobs that help us put food on the table. But Shelly is determined to remain a showgirl. Even if she is the last one, she wants to be “the last showgirl”.

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Shelly is also self-destructive. The door handle is in her way—she could be more careful,  but with everything weighing on her, she forgets. It breaks. She is pulled back to where she started, just as she was running forward with high hopes. Shelly’s co-workers, Jodie and Mary-Anne, played by Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song,  respectively, need Shelly as a maternal figure. But she already has too much on her plate. The only love she truly longs for is from Hannah, her own daughter, not Jodie or  Mary. More than Annette’s presence, it is Jodie and Mary’s interactions with Shelly that add depth to her character.

We spend much of the film backstage, witnessing Shelly and her co-workers’ off-stage lives. It is only in the end that we see Pamela’s audition and her actual performance as a showgirl, despite the film revolving around performance the entire time. This build-up is executed effectively, yet the expository dialogues make the film feel distant. If we connect with the characters, this style can leave us in tears when we come out of the  Cinema. But even with stellar performances, if the film merely looks like a beautiful painting but lacks emotional impact, this style creates detachment. It is a tricky balance—one that has divided most fans of Robert Zemeckis these days.

Whether on stage or backstage, there is always an audience. At first, the crowd reacts.  Then, the numbers dwindle. But the stationary objects backstage bear witness to the sobs, the laughter, the heartbreak. Pamela Anderson delivers an outstanding performance—her vulnerability throughout the film is easily comparable to veteran actors like Jamie Lee Curtis, who also shares screen time with her.

Jamie’s character, Annette, is not a challenge for her to pull off given her filmography— especially her recent work in “The Bear.” She keeps getting better, effortlessly so. Though her screen time is limited and the story centers on Pamela, her presence leaves a significant impact than expected.

It is always refreshing to see Hollywood superstars, often tied to superhero films, take on arthouse independent projects. Many use these films as workshops—sometimes they gain more recognition as actors here than in franchise films that bring them fame and money. Dave Bautista, playing Eddie, the show’s producer, brings a timid presence. He shares a history with Shelly, hinting that he wants to rekindle something with her. But one dinner could crush his hopes. His whole screen time in this has an impact that is close to the intro sequence he already did in “Blade Runner 2049”—no more, no less.

The handheld camerawork contributes immensely to the film’s atmosphere, grounding it in a naturalistic tone that benefits the actors. However, it inevitably draws comparisons to “The Wrestler,” “Red Rocket,” “The Florida Project,” and even Coppola’s own  “Palo Alto” and “Mainstream.” Yet, unlike those films, “The Last Showgirl” gives us nothing but its star—Pamela. Limited characters, limited locations,  and limited empathy. The way “Inside Llewyn Davis” begins and ends mirrors “The Last  Showgirl”—a loop where hope and defeat coexist.

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The Last Showgirl (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Letterboxd
Cast of The Last Showgirl (2024) Movie: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Billie Lourd, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, and Kiernan Shipka
The Last Showgirl (2024) Movie Released on Jan 10, Runtime: 1h 29m, Genre: Drama

Where to watch The Last Showgirl