The 2020 Presidential Election is destroying relationships; family, friends and loved ones are at each other's throats as they debate whether Donald J. Trump or Joe Biden should be the next President of the United States. As people antagonize, fight and defame one another amidst a pandemic one man makes it his mission to bring the world together through laughter. That man is Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen), and he’s here to take the world by storm...again.
Fourteen years ago, Borat stunned the world with his mockumentary as the Kazakhstan native traveled throughout the United States and conducted a series of hilarious interviews. Today, on the precipice of the 2020 election, Borat returns to break up the monotony of the past eight months and conduct a new series of interviews. As Borat travels the “US&A” in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, in an attempt to bribe the Republican party, new interviewees and experiences make their way to the forefront of Borat’s story. Borat’s one-of-a-kind approach to everyday life is back and crazier than ever.
Cohen has regularly attempted to smear the line that divides fact and fiction, making it difficult for viewers to determine what is real and what is simply “Hollywood.” In Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Cohen makes sure not to tread lightly and takes a balls to the wall approach to bringing his character back to life and essentially tearing down the Republican regime from the inside. Cameos from Mike Pence and Rudy Guiliani allow Cohen to infiltrate the organization and expose the Republican representatives in a number of ways. These exposures, however, are confusing as they continue to blur that line between reality and fiction. Viewers struggle to understand which aspects of this film are real and which have simply been fabricated as a means to entertain. This struggle, in many ways, is also the allure of the film. Cohen certainly prides himself on being able to make people cringe and then laugh at their own uncomfortability; seeing these political figures (regardless of your personal stance on politics) finds viewers conflicted but able to laugh at the cringeworthy, but defining moments in the film. Being either Pence or Guiliani might make the film difficult to appreciate as their character is regularly villipended, but from the outside looking in (with the ability to temporarily throw political views to the wayside) viewers can appreciate and even laugh at the clear villains of the film.
Fitting with the already confusing nature of the film, viewers find that Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is both divisive and unifying. While a clear political agenda is present throughout, Cohen’s ability to make people of all different backgrounds laugh at the fractured society in which they live is a gift. As he runs rampant through the streets of the “United States & America”, audiences seemingly have no choice but to nervously laugh at the issues that flood our government and our morals. Borat clearly pulls viewers in two polar opposite directions, helping to solidify whatever beliefs they brought with them, he manages to create a bond that transcends America. That bond is the understanding that nothing is perfect and that, regardless of our personal feelings toward politics, the Coronavirus and feminism, change is both inevitable and necessary. As we laugh at the ridiculousness that fills the screen, we understand that regardless of our views, fear and misunderstanding plagues us as much as the next person. While this is maybe a bit deeper than Borat Subsequent Moviefilm cast and crew members intended, the message lives within the dialogue and the story nonetheless.
The comedy is raunchier than ever and the stakes are higher than ever before as Cohen attempts to break down maybe the biggest presidential election in American history. As the country rips itself apart as a result of two men vying for a seat in the oval office, Borat delivers the politically defaming film that I think we all needed. He adds levity to a hostile race and comedy to a time when it has become more subjective than ever. Cohen takes a huge gamble in creating Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, but ultimately finds success by sticking to his own devices and doing what he does best, inappropriate comedy. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm has the potential to turn off certain viewers, however, fans of the original have to watch this film at least once.
Directed by Jason Woliner. Written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, etc. Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova, Dani Popescu, Manuel Vieru, Miroslav Tolj, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
Comments