In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any other

Hollywood loves to present Las Vegas as a bejewelled land of hedonism, where dreams come true and the party carries on long after your exit. While cinema usually leaves us with this eternal image of Sin City and the knowledge that the roulette wheel just keeps on spinning, the reality is rather different for those who permanently inhabit this strange city. The Last Showgirl, directed by Gia Coppola and written by Kate Gersten, offers a depiction of Las Vegas long after the party has ended. Centring on a bewildered Shelly (Pamela Anderson), who has worked as a showgirl for 30 years and is struggling to accept the final curtain call.

Nightclub Le Razzle Dazzle’s impending closure affects many members of staff besides Shelly. Fellow dancers Jodi (Kiernan Shipka) and Mary-Anne (Brenda Song) are on the hunt for other jobs along The Strip, and showrunner Eddie (Dave Bautista), who's been with the show almost as long as Shelly, is reminiscing. Meanwhile, ex-showgirl Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), is Shelly’s rock and crystal ball to a future devoid of rhinestone bras that she’s not willing to give up.

Shelly has a stubborn quality to her ambition, one that may have served her well in the early days of her dancing career, but at the tail end of it appears petulant. Refusing to believe it, she attends the same auditions as the younger dancers and is bluntly told she no longer has her sex appeal.

The choice to cast Pamela Anderson is clear, as an actor who has spent her career underestimated and valued for her beauty alone. Her performance of Shelly offers a nuanced portrayal of an emotionally stunted individual. Shelly has spent so much time in the spotlight that the dazzling brightness has affected her ability to truly see others – not the young Jodi who comes to her for comfort, nor her daughter Hannah (Billie Lourde), who has learnt not to expect such maternal instincts. The Las Vegas dancer is often portrayed as cutthroat in their ambition, but what exists once you reach the top? A drip feed of attention while you stagnate. Anderson’s interpretation of Shelly is what might happen if Showgirls’ Nomi never quit the stage, and like a hypersexualised version of Wendy, chose to stay in Neverland – forfeiting her future for the promise of eternal glamour.

A heavy layer of nostalgia coats the film, evident in the original Bob Mackie costumes for The Last Showgirl, acquired by costume designer Jacqui Getty and stylist Jose Rodrigo. Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s decision to shoot on film adds a saturated, textured quality, that encourages a rose-tinted perspective, through which the Vegas pyramids seem as monumental as the world wonders they impersonate.

One of The Last Showgirl's most memorable scenes is of Jamie Lee Curtis, in a red leotard tuxedo she’s required to wear while she works the Casino floor, performing a slow dance to the tune of ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. It’s a moment that encapsulates the dream-like potential of this high-stakes city and the possible tragedy of committing your life to its kitsch opulence. In Gia Coppola's sophomore film, nostalgia is a drug just as stultifying as any other.

The Last Showgirl is on general release 28 February 2025

odeon.co.uk