Jagshemash Borat is back! At a time in the year when people are looking for something to give them a boost, everyones favourite Kazakstanian reporter returns and is heading back to the US to unieash a whole new amount of chaos and this time he has his daughter in tow too.
14 years after making a film about his journey across the USA, Borat risks life and limb when he returns to America with his young daughter, and reveals more about the American culture, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the political elections.
The mockumentary style which made the first film so successful for the most part is gone here, the sequel is more of a road movie with Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his daughter (Maria Bakalova) in America as Borat attempts to redeem himself after the antics of the first movie brought shame to his nation.
Once we are past the opening and the set up, we are straight into it with Borat instantly getting recognised by the US public so Cohen has change his disguises. Then from there we are back to what Cohen does best in allowing the unsuspecting victims of his prank scenes reveal their true nature.
There has been a lot already written about the big scenes with Mike Pence and Rudy Giuliani your skin crawl. But where Borat Subsequent Moviefilm really works is in the smaller scenes with the local public. In particular the dress shop scene is downright hilarious and the debutant ball sequence is as hysterical as it is shocking (In particular the moment with the father of one of the other debutants who reacts rather badly to her father is an absolute cringe festival). A special shoutout to the poor Pastor in the abortion clinic who really is tied up in knots and conflicted but the events that unravel around him too.
The film doesn’t always work, especially when they try to establish the story with Borat and his daughter, but its his daughter played by Maria Bakalova who really is the stand out superstar of this film. As brave as Cohen with the situations she is put in and with nerves of steel she pulls it off with aplomb especially with the Republican women’s group, which will have you laughing out loud as it unfolds. But it’s the Giuliani scene that you really have to applaud her. For not reacting how you would of thought she would have in normal circumstances and keeping it together throughout is incredible.
But the thing with the Borat movies, is that it’s best you actually don’t know too much as going in relatively blind means that you enjoy the experience more. So make some time, click on play and sit back and enjoy Borat’s return, and despite Cohen saying the character is officially retired, we can only but hope that in the long run that he and Bakalova don’t make good on that promise.
