The Last Showgirl
The Last Showgirl
6.583%72%
When the glittering Las Vegas revue she has headlined for decades announces it will soon close, glamorous showgirl Shelly sets out to plan her next act. Reconciling the decisions she's made and the community she has built, Shelly decides to repair her complicated relationship with her daughter.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 1, 2025
Really wanted to LOVE this. And I did love some of it. Anderson gives a really great performance. JLC is similarly great in her supporting role. Loved some of the ideas on display as well. Shelly’s (Anderson) has given 30 years to a career, sacrificing time with her daughter, Hannah (Billie Lourd) to make ends meet. Only to get kicked to the curb left with nothing to show for it while a guy that pushes a button gets to keep his job and his full pension.
The film unfortunately is also equally frustrating for various reasons. I seriously wondered if our theaters projector was out of focus for parts of the film. Most notably the get together at Shelly’s house. The focus so bad, but the house lights in our theater flickered on a few times during our showing, I thought maybe it was a theater issue, however, I’m seeing a lot of the same comments in a few of your reviews. Less of an issue, but I didn’t love the constantly close-up camera.
Also, the ending leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a sub plot regarding Hannah’s dad that is completely unresolved, but the film semi treats it as if it’s resolved. It’s like there’s 20-30 minutes of the film missing. Similarly, Shelly’s relationship with her daughter is given the same kind of “resolution.” I thought Dave Bautista was giving a good performance. But then we find out something about his character that makes the performance actually not feel right.
Even with all of those frustrations, though, I would still recommend this film. A career best performance from Anderson and some really good ideas are swirling around this otherwise kind of messy film.