The Last Showgirl (2024)

The Last Showgirl (2024), directed by Gia Coppola, is set in Las Vegas. The film struck us as rather sad and troubling, as well as being “brilliant, with amazing performances.” Shelly, a veteran showgirl, faces the sudden closure of her long-running Folies Bergère style revue. She also must face her broken relationship with her daughter, who was not her priority as a child.

As well as Pamela Anderson playing the vulnerable lead role of Shelly the showgirl, Jamie Lee Curtis gave a strong performance as her cocktail waitress friend. Her spray tan and extraordinary brash make-up was something remarkable to behold. We really wanted more of her. We liked Shelly’s desperate audition scene, which reminded me of the song “I Can Do That” from the musical A Chorus Line.

The ciné vérité style wasn’t popular with all of us – one member of the group thought the jumpy camera work was like “being spun around in a washing machine”. The film was multi-layered, with different life moments explored in hazy, close-up vignettes.

This isn’t a perfect film, although it has some meaty themes. It touches on the choices we make, getting older, regrets, facing change, our life priorities and the fantasy and real worlds we inhabit. It showed the grimness behind the glamour.

We liked it and it was just less than 90 minutes. We could do the washing in that time too.

Anne