While not quite as potent as the first film, this “subsequent movie film” is edgy enough to cut its way into mainstream media – and in a year as eventful as 2020, that’s impressive.‘Borat Subsequent Movie Film’ is comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s next foray into his Borat character, but this time instead of critiquing the United States as a whole, he’s aiming his sights on a… specific subset of the population. The result? A hilariously topical event film that is as ludicrous as the year 2020 itself.
Making his theatrical directorial debut, Jason Woliner brings us Borat’s next adventure where he must travel to the US&A once again to bring honour to Kazakhstan by offering the vice president a gift.
From conservative rally’s to seemingly innocent bystanders, this satirical mockumentary places itself in the heart of America’s inner political conflict and attempts to take it head on with Cohen’s most edgiest stunts yet. However, unlike ‘Borat’ (2006) this aptly timed sequel appears to be taking a more precise approach to its message – aiming more to affect change through its shockumentary approach more so than a laugh achieved through shock value. This sequel takes on the problems America is facing in the here and now, from conspiracy theories, social media influence, and political turbulence, this film incorporates the use of Borat’s daughter Tutar as a secondary element to the Borat story. We say “story” because similarly to the first film this sequel does have one, it primarily exists a catalyst to stitch together the stunts and form a cohesive glue for this sequel; however, there’s a story in here – one of Borat and his daughter Tutar’s relationship as she grows to understand the Western world. We would be remiss if we didn’t admit that the narrative didn’t sometimes hamper the pace we were looking for – as with content like ‘Borat’ everyone is admittedly here for the stunts and pranks that Cohen performs to critique America. So yes, sometimes this side narrative within this mockumentary dampens the tone and loses us from time to time, but we certainly see why it’s a necessary element within the film.
‘Subsequent Movie Film’ is perhaps a little too narratively driven to really drive its point hard enough to make history books, but the point is clear nonetheless – as long as there’s nutso content in the USA for Baron Cohen to exploit, he’ll continue to enjoy filming it in ridiculous fashion.
7.1/10
