Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Director: Jason Woliner
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova
Running Time: 96 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

When Borat was released in 2006 the general consensus was that it couldn't possibly be sequeled since the its entire premise was built upon the foul-mouthed, offensive, mustachioed title character's anonymity when fooling his unsuspecting targets. The movie became so big that star Sacha Baron Cohen was and is still is too recognizable as him, making the persona's return especially problematic. But now after fourteen years, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime For Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is his way back in and the solution to this dilemma was so simple, yet ingenious. Much like Baron Cohen disguised himself, so will Borat, partially doing away with the documentary-style improvisation that defined the original while retaining much of the first film's form and style. In its place is a more tightly scripted adventure that finds him as dumb and outrageous as ever, returning to a far different America than the one he left over a decade ago. 

Both horrifying and unbearably hilarious, it's the rare comedy sequel that surpasses the original, mainly because the stakes seem so much higher and the material far more controversial.  In a brutal skewering of the country's division that focuses almost entirely on the past eight months of Donald Trump's presidency, a perfect satirical storm converges, allowing Baron Cohen, to hit the material out of the park. But what's most astonishing about it is how the more heavily scripted format ideally fits this premise while sacrificing none of the unpredictable atmosphere that defined the character. Complete with the addition of a sidekick who basically steals the movie out from under him, that this boasts no less than eight credited writers makes it all the more shocking how spontaneous everything comes across, even when it isn't. Or when it is. Just look no further than what's become the infamous scene, as former New York City Mayor and Trump personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, finds himself in the most compromising of positions.

After humiliating his homeland of Kazakhstan fourteen years ago, journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Baron Cohen) is released from a gulag prison with the condition that he deliver his nation's prized Kazakh Minister of Culture Johnny The Monkey to President Donald Trump (or "McDonald" Trump as he calls him) as an attempt at redemption. But barred from going near the President, Borat instead makes plans to gift the monkey to Vice President Mike Pence (referred to as "Vice Premiere Mikael Pence"), at least until his surprise fifteen-year-old daughter, Tutar (Maria Bakalova) ruins that plan after joining him on the trip in a cargo crate. 

Parroting his nation's sexist, dismissive views of women with a handbook he lends Tutar, and adopting a variety of disguises, Borat must now present his own daughter as the gift to renowned "ladies man" Pence or face execution. And that's when the real craziness starts, as he begins remaking his daughter for this big moment, all while offensively awkward encounters with various strangers appalled at their behavior. With Borat inching ever closer to completing his mission, he's forced to examine the affect this will have on Tutar, while attempting to process America's heightened political climate amidst the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.  

It's pretty obvious early on that Baron-Cohen and first-time feature director Jason Woliner have no plans to pull any punches when early scenes feature Tutar watching an animated Disney-like fairy tale titled Melania, inspiring her to leave the country to be kept as property in a gilded cage just like the First Lady. Or when Borat, decked in full Trump costume, crashes Pence's CPAC speech as the VP touts that there only fifteen coronavirus cases while declaring the administration "ready for anything." But as pointed as these shots are, nothing really compares to the interactions Borat and his aspiring journalist daughter have with "regular" folks floored by their unpredictable antics.

The best, or maybe worst, of the pair's grotesque displays occur when under the guises of Professor Phillip Drummond III (what a reference) and Sandra Jessica Parker Drummond, they simultaneously surprise and horrify the guests of a debutante ball with a father-daughter dance that concludes in a widly inappropriate fashion. They also encounter a plastic surgeon ready to physically transform Tutar before she's given away, a babysitter who tries to open her eyes to her nation's misogynistic lies, a Jewish woman attempting to convince Borat that the Holocaust actually happened and, most memorably, a pair of QAnon conspiracy believers with whom Borat stays with when the pandemic takes hold. And wait until you see the song he performs at their right-wing March for Our Rights anti-lockdown rally, to an overenthusiastic response. 

While Baron Cohen's funniest and timeliest thrashing yet only reinforces the longstanding belief in his comic genius, almost equal credit should go to Maria Bakalova, who dives into the role of Tutar with fearless abandon from the moment she appears on screen. It's their scenes together that make this whole experience work, perfectly playing off each other as they move from one embarrassing situation to the next oblivious of their behavior, much of which revolves around her shock that women are allowed to drive and hold down jobs. The amount of visual gags and one-liners that land are abnormally high, not only because of their timing, but the pitch-perfect reactions of anyone who happens to be within their orbit. Couple that with the fact there's a compelling plot so closely tied to current events and it's hard to argue that this strikes a nerve its preceding film couldn't, even concluding with a Usual Suspects-like third act twist that cleverly blurs the lines of this fictionalized reality.  

What's actually been overlooked about Rudy Guiliani's hotel room moment is how much of a centerpiece it is, as if all roads of the plot lead us there, to that scene, literally the main event of all this. And that it probably ranks on the lower end of the film's jaw-dropping sequences tells you everything you need to know about what to expect. In Rudy's defense, what he believes to be a real interview with a legitimate journalist starts for him as professionally as possible until Tutar's advances begin and things start deteriorating in a hurry. The most disturbing thing about it is how he casually behaves as if this is business as usual, resulting in a noticeable jolt when the truth's revealed.

Caught with his pants down in the most literal sense, it's difficult for even the most skilled spinsters put a positive shine on what ends up being the worst look possible for this formerly respected public figure, now a very long way from his "Time Person of the Year" status. Though to be fair, he had already done a pretty good job sullying that reputation well before this. Set-up or not, this scene of him is now on permanent record for audiences and the media to endlessly dissect, regardless of its context. 

What's so dumbfounding about the Giuliani situation could easily apply to the film as a whole, as Baron Cohen's methods as Borat always seem to land the biggest blows on those stubbornly entrenched in their own belief system, occupying self-contained bubbles with few moral limits. As far as the accusation that satire this timely won't age well, there's little chance it could ever hold up as poorly as the actual events inspiring it. If anything, this should be the go-to piece of entertainment for anyone yearning for the ultimate satirical reflection of the past year's insanity.