Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

2006's Borat is one of those movies that, growing up, I always figured was one of those trashy, raunchy-for-raunch's-sake comedies loved by rednecks and frat guys because it features a dude with a funny accent doing stupid stuff. That assumption was based purely on the people I knew who liked it; I had not seen any of the film until a few years ago, at which point I found come clips online and began to "get" that it was much more than a scuzzy dudebro comedy, and it was even more recently that I finally sat down to watch the entire thing beginning to end. And while I appreciate its satirical brilliance now, I find myself fascinated with its cultural standing—the fact remains that most of the people I knew growing up who liked it were the kind of people that the film is clearly poking fun at.

Which says to me that Borat, for all of its clever undercutting of ignorant and backwards-thinking America, was not quite specific enough in its satire to get through to everyone. The original film was more of a social experiment—Sacha Baron Cohen's public pranks and antics throughout the film were, in a way, only incidentally satirical much of the time. It's effective, and from a certain perspective, harrowing, in how it exposes the underbelly and stupidity of our culture, but it kept things vague enough, apparently, that its more regressive audience of 2006 could watch the whole thing and still come out thinking that "funny foreigners" were the ones being made fun of.

Cut to 2020, one of the most socially, economically, and politically turbulent single years in possibly my entire quarter-century life. Thinking back, it's the perfect environment for Borat Sagdiyev to make his return to "U S and A." Enter Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, a much more pointed satire of America than its predecessor. And strangely more heartfelt as well.

14 years after first traveling here on assignment to make "Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," Borat is in a labor prison for crimes against his home country. His original film was a disaster, at least for Kazakhstan, as it made the nation and its people look like idiots, ruining their reputation instead of boosting it, as had been intended. Borat finds himself suddenly plucked from his sentence to go to the Prime Minister's office with a new task, and a final shot at redemption: he must give a gift to the Trump administration as a means of building a stronger relationship with America, like Trump has formed with other "great" leaders, like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. If he fails, he will be put to death.

Upon landing in America, Borat realizes that his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) stowed away with him. Borat decides that this is perfect; he can gift his own daughter to the highest office in the land, so she can be a beautiful wife in a "golden cage, like Melania."

The early portions of Subsequent Moviefilm function very similarly to the original film, making callbacks to iconic bits and refreshing us on what it's like to be Borat. But this sequel isn't naive enough to think that Borat would be able to go unrecognized in most public places while he does the same old shtick; upon arrival, he is swarmed by fans on the sidewalk who want pictures and autographs. So Cohen pulls from his recent projects like Who is America? and puts Borat in a number of different disguises so he can actually infiltrate social spaces without everyone's guards immediately being up. Of course, Borat is no chameleon, so his thick accent and stiff mannerisms never fade away. There's something glorious about Borat straining to say "Howdy doody" while dressed head-to-toe in denim.

Subsequent Moviefilm then, much like its predecessor, dives headfirst into the current American zeitgeist. This time, however, the chosen targets and subjects are far more specific, and the commentary much more incisive. That's not a knock against the first film, which may or may not still be the better film (I'm undecided); the two are just different. While Borat opted for more of a social experiment, and in doing so shed light on our cultural ugliness, Subsequent Moviefilm more precisely goes after the demographics and individuals who will hand you their vices with a smile, without even a passing thought that they might actually be encapsulating everything wrong with the current cultural moment. Conservative rally attendees, Republican Women's conferences, an Instagram influencer, and even "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani happily step forth to expose themselves (more figuratively than literally, BUT).

The other key distinguisher is Subsequent Moviefilm's clear emotional angle. There is a father-daughter drama squeezed in amidst all of the pranks and parody, and it's actually pretty well-done. Bakalova is relentlessly adorable, as a girl who has grown up being neglected (literally treated as a subhuman) back home to learning about equality and human rights during her time in America. She rails against her father, and is ultimately able to make him a better man as well, as he begins to realize her actual worth beyond a gift to be exchanged to another man for "diplomacy." This gives Subsequent Moviefilm a more hopeful and earnest flavor, despite the nasty, depressing behavior it puts on display. Some might feel that this lessens the blow of its critique, but I think it just adds another level on which you can engage with it. While Borat might be a little bit funnier and more shocking, Subsequent Moviefilm will reach similar heights while also asking you to feel.

But while these differences in the sequel are absolute strengths in my mind, I imagine they will be the reasons that Subsequent Moviefilm will find less broad appeal than its predecessor. I personally don't think Cohen loses any of his teeth here; in fact, the film's boldness to further single out popular, regressive thought processes and belief systems is to its credit, in my opinion. But this film is far less likely to accidentally reach across the aisle and make a fan out of the people it's making fun of, like the first one did. And I suppose an argument can be made that satire loses some power when it has to be so overt in its aim. But in this case, I think most criticisms it will receive on that front will probably come from the camp that throws around "virtue signaling" rhetoric about anything that dares to have a social or political bent (or even just adequately represents its audience).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOwaypo3jC4&ab_channel=MovieclipsTrailers&w=585