Movie Review: BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM Out Now On Amazon Prime Video

Kazakhstan’s most infamous journalist is back at it, doing what he does best after 14 years away from the big screen (big stream?).

The new film directed by Jason Woliner, succinctly titled Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, dropped early on Prime Video – an hour before the final presidential debate of 2020. That release is fitting, seeing as watching the film gives viewers a clear look into the state of the county leading up to election. Spoilers: it isn’t pretty.

While Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) is still up to his old tricks, he’s much more recognizable than he was during the first film. That’s surely part of why it took so long to come up with a sequel that would work well enough. The film even references how hard it is for Borat to walk around without being recognized. So Borat takes a page out of the Sacha Baron Cohen playbook and creates his own characters, going under disguise as Borat. It creates several hilarious new characters, and also gives Borat something fresh to do.

Because the film hinges so much on the surprise of what he’s doing, I won’t go much into the plot. All you need to know is that Borat is living in Kazakhstan as a disgraced journalist, and the government sends him on an assignment to America to make up for his wrongdoings. While tasked with delivering the country’s famous TV monkey to Michael Pence, things don’t go according to plan (shocking, I know) and Borat also finds out he has a daughter – Tutar (Maria Bakalova). The two of them go on a journey to clear Borat’s name, and get a chance to know each other along the way.

Sacha Baron Cohen is amazing once again as his most famous character. The actor is a comedic genius, and is able to pull of these elaborate hoaxes that others wouldn’t even dare try. How he does it with a straight face is a mystery, but that’s why he’s the best in the business. He’s also a really good actor (see The Trial of the Chicago 7) and does a good job balancing the comedic stuff along with some surprisingly tender moments in the film.

Maria Bakalova is great in the film as Borat’s newfound daughter. She’s hilarious, charming, and extremely confident in pulling off the pranks in the film. Much like with SBC, I don’t know how she manages to do it with a straight face – but she does a terrific job. She nails the sentimental father-daughter stuff as well.

Hopefully viewers will be able to avoid the spoilers going around the internet before seeing the film – it would be a shame to have any of these surprises ruined before experiencing them in their full glory. There are some big names that Borat is able to pull one over on, and the ending is sure to have people taking a lot.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a nice escape from the current landscape of 2020, and delivers plenty of much-needed laughs throughout. Depending on what side you land on politically, you may find some segments more funny than others. But at the end of the day, the film is a much truer picture of the state of the country than it is a work of fiction, and is sure to be eye opening for some. With all the laughs, some sweet moments, and plenty of shock – the film couldn’t be delivered at a better time.

B+