This film may make you laugh, cry, or shake your head at the pure offensiveness that the movie contains. But one thing for certain, Sacha Baron Cohen has shown us his brilliant and satirical genius once again.
The film’s premise revolves around the titular character Borat Sagdiyev returning to The United States of America while attempting to deliver his fifteen-year-old daughter as a gift to individuals such as Vice President Mike Pence or American politician Rudy Giuliani.
Borat was given this task by a fictionalized version of Kazakhstan Premier Nursultan Nazarbayev initially requests him to deliver Johnny the Monkey, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Culture, as a gift to US President Donald Trump. However, their plan goes awry when Borat’s daughter Tutar sneaks into Johnny’s shipping crate and is revealed to have killed and eaten Johnny. After being threatened with death by Premier Nazarbayev, Borat is left with no choice but to deliver his daughter as a gift to Vice President Mike Pence. However, his plan to deliver Tutar to Mike Pence fails, so he decides to give her to Rudy Giuliani as a gift instead.
The humour in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is edgy and controversial, and it seems to be completely aware of this. With scenes that are sure to shock audiences at every turn.
One scene does come to mind near the beginning of the film, where Borat and his daughter are in a bakery where Tutar begs her father for a cupcake with a plastic decorative baby on it. Borat reluctantly agrees to it however, Tutar accidentally swallows the plastic baby, and he takes her to a women’s health center to remove the baby. However, when Borat and Tutar talked to pro-life doctor, their limited English and the way they explained their situation made it sound like Borat impregnated Tutar in an alleyway, and Tutar was attempting to terminate the pregnancy, which horrifies the doctor. It isn’t hard to imagine how many drinks were spat out at this scene.
Despite its edgy and shocking humour, the satirical film does an excellent job shedding some light on some genuinely troubling subjects, most notably gender inequality. As shown with how Borat displays a misogynistic view towards women in the first Borat film and most of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. For most of the film, Borat initially sees his daughter as nothing more than an object to gift to someone. However, Borat loses his sexist tendencies towards the end of the film after realizing how much he loves his daughter Tutar and manages to bring gender equality to Kazakhstan.
However, the most talked-about scene in the film that has been gaining controversy and notoriety is the scene with Rudy Giuliani. Tutar attempts to seduce Giuliani during an interview. At one point in the bedroom, Giuliani was shown reaching into his trousers before Borat intervenes and tries to offer himself sexually to Giuliani instead of his daughter. In a tweet, Giuliani claimed that the scene was fabricated and that he was merely “tucking his shirt in” despite the already controversial scene.
In summary, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm manages to deliver the edgy and shocking satire that we know and love from the first Borat film in 2006. Despite some of its more controversial moments, it offers excellent commentary on hot issues such as sexism, grooming, and political corruption. If you are looking for a comedy film that isn’t afraid to cross any lines, then Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is the choice for you.
