Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan[b], or simply Borat Subsequent Moviefilm or Borat 2, is a 2020 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Jason Woliner (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Sacha Baron Cohen as the fictional Kazakh journalist and television personality Borat Sagdiyev, and Maria Bakalova as his daughter Tutar, who is to be offered as a bride to then–U.S. vice president Mike Pence during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. It is a sequel to 2006's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
- Sacha Baron Cohen
- Anthony Hines
- Dan Swimer
- Peter Baynham
- Erica Rivinoja
- Dan Mazer
- Jena Friedman
- Lee Kern
- Sacha Baron Cohen
- Anthony Hines
- Dan Swimer
- Nina Pedrad
Borat Sagdiyev
by Sacha Baron Cohen
- Sacha Baron Cohen
- Monica Levinson
- Anthony Hines
- Sacha Baron Cohen
- Maria Bakalova
- James Thomas
- Craig Alpert
- Michael Giambra
Amazon Studios
Amazon Studios
- October 23, 2020
96 minutes
- United States
- United Kingdom
- English[a]
$10–20 million[1]
Although Baron Cohen had said in 2007 that he had retired the Borat character, he was spotted in 2019 in the disguise, and was seen filming in mid-2020, leading to speculation of a second Borat film. The project was officially announced in September 2020, with Amazon Studios acquiring the distribution rights. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm was released on October 23, 2020, on Amazon Prime Video. It received praise from critics for Baron Cohen's and Bakalova's performances, as well as for its commentary on American culture; former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's appearance, however, was polarizing. The film received three nominations at the 78th Golden Globe Awards, winning for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor—Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Baron Cohen and Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy. At the 93rd Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Bakalova. In addition, Bakalova was nominated for Best Actress—Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes and received nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards and 74th British Academy Film Awards. The screenplay won at the 73rd Writers Guild of America Awards.
Plot[edit]
After fourteen years of forced labor in a gulag for the dishonor inflicted on his country in his previous adventure, Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev is released by his country's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, with a mission to deliver Kazakh Minister of Culture (and Kazakhstan's most famous porn actor) Johnny the Monkey to President Donald Trump in an attempt to redeem the nation. Unable to get close to Trump after defecating in the landscaping of Trump International Hotel and Tower in the previous film, Borat opts to give the monkey to Vice President Mike Pence. Before leaving, he discovers that his arch nemesis neighbor, Nursultan Tulyakbay, has stolen his family and home, and that he has a fifteen-year-old daughter, Tutar, who lives in his barn.
Borat is transported across the world in a circuitous route by cargo ship and arrives in Galveston, Texas, where he finds he is a celebrity. Wanting to maintain a low profile, Borat purchases multiple disguises. He buys a cell phone and goes to welcome Johnny, but finds that Tutar is in Johnny's shipping crate and has eaten him. Horrified, Borat faxes Nazarbayev, who tells him to find a way to satisfy Pence or he will be executed. Borat decides to give Tutar to Pence.
Tutar receives a makeover and Borat introduces her at a debutante ball. At the ball, her menstrual blood is prominently displayed during a father and daughter dance. Discovering that Pence is nearby at CPAC, Borat disguises himself as Trump and attempts to give Tutar to him there, but is ejected by security. Nazarbayev is enraged and tells him to return to Kazakhstan for execution. Realizing that he can still give Tutar to someone close to Trump, Tutar suggests giving her to Rudy Giuliani.
Because Giuliani had bragged about having an affair with a large-breasted woman, Borat brings Tutar to a cosmetic surgeon who advises breast implants. While Borat works in a barbershop to raise enough money to pay for breast surgery, he briefly leaves Tutar with a babysitter who is confused by Borat's sexist teachings. She informs Tutar that the things her culture has taught her are lies. After Tutar sees a woman driving a car, and successfully masturbates for the first time, she decides not to get the surgery and lashes out at Borat for keeping her oppressed her whole life. Before leaving, she tells him the Holocaust, their country’s "greatest accomplishment" is a lie by citing a Holocaust denial Facebook page.
Shaken, Borat decides to commit suicide by going to the nearest synagogue dressed as his version of a stereotypical Jew and waiting for the next mass shooting, but is shocked to find Holocaust survivors there who treat him with kindness, and to his anti-Semitic delight, reassure him that the Holocaust happened. Overjoyed, Borat goes looking for Tutar, but finds the streets deserted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He quarantines with two QAnon conspiracy theorists who offer to help him reunite with Tutar. They find Tutar online, who has become a reporter and will be covering a March for Our Rights rally in Olympia, Washington.
At the rally, the men appeal to Tutar, telling her that her dad will be killed unless she helps. She accepts and arranges an interview to seduce Giuliani, but without her father's participation. Borat talks with her babysitter and has a change of heart, realizing that he loves Tutar. After the interview, Giuliani and Tutar proceed to a bedroom before Borat intervenes and tries to personally offer sexual favors to Giuliani. Borat decides to face execution in Kazakhstan and Tutar promises to go with him.
Borat is shocked to find he will not be executed as he had instead been used as retaliation by Nazarbayev for making Kazakhstan a laughingstock. Before departing for the United States, Kazakhstan officials infected Borat with SARS-CoV-2 via an injection of "gypsy tears", making him patient zero of the COVID-19 pandemic. As he was sent around the world, he continued to spread the virus. Borat uses a recording made near the beginning of his trip to convince Nazarbayev that his admission has been recorded and sent to Brian, the man who sold Borat his phone, and whom Borat claims is America's Minister of Technology.
Borat and Tutar blackmail Nazarbayev into giving him his job back and changing Kazakhstan's misogynistic laws. Three months later, Tutar and Borat are a reporting team and Kazakhstan has a new tradition to replace the nation's antisemitic ones: the Running of the American. It features exaggerated caricatures of Trump supporters and "Karens" pretending to spread COVID-19 and killing an effigy of Anthony Fauci. The film ends with a message encouraging viewers to vote in the then-upcoming presidential election.
Mike Pence and Rudy Giuliani appear as themselves. Bystanders included in the film include salesman Brian Patrick Snyder, Instagram influencer and entertainer Macy Chanel,[9] crisis pregnancy center owner Pastor Jonathan Bright, debutante coach Dr. Jean Sheffield, Dallas-based plastic surgeon and naval reservist Charles Wallace,[10][8] professional babysitter Jeanise Jones, Wooten's Barbershop (Eatonton, Georgia) patron Alan "Randy" Knight, the Hillsborough Republican Women's Club, QAnon conspiracy theorists Jerry Holleman and Jim Russell, and Holocaust survivor Judith Dim Evans.[5] The character of Johnny the Monkey—a porn star and Kazakhstani government minister—was given a fictionalized backstory as a famous monkey actor.[8]
Sid Miller, Donald Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. were originally in the film, but their scenes were cut.[11][12] Comedian Luenell was filmed as the character Luenell, the prostitute who marries Borat at the end of the first film, but her scenes were also cut.[13]
Audience viewership[edit]
Following the film's first weekend, Amazon, Inc. declined to give precise numbers for the number of viewers but stated that it was "tens of millions" globally. Estimates by Samba TV put the number of U.S. households who watched during that first weekend at 1.6 million;[128] Amazon claims these numbers are inaccurate.[1] Based on social media mentions, MarketCast tracked 1.1 million hits across the week leading up to and just following the film's release; that left it second only to Hamilton in mentions in 2020.[129] Nielsen ratings for streaming in the week of October 19 placed Borat Subsequent Moviefilm at the eighth most-watched program, with 570 million minutes, the equivalent to 5.9 million viewings.[130] In November, Variety reported the film was the second-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point.[131]
Miniseries[edit]
In April 2021, the follow-up miniseries, Borat 2: Supplemental Reportings featuring deleted scenes from Subsequent Moviefilm was announced.[132] On May 24, 2021, Amazon Prime released the video short Borat: VHS Cassette of Material Deemed 'Sub-acceptable' by Kazakhstan Ministry of Censorship and Circumcision, and seven-episode miniseries, Borat's American Lockdown & Debunking Borat,[133] featuring additional unrelated footage shot during production of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, including more of his quarantine lockdown with Jim and Jerry. It also features a rare clip of Baron Cohen breaking character while still in costume, from when the Borat crew was chased away from the gun rally in Washington: Baron Cohen is clearly shown giving warnings to his crew as they evacuate in their hired ambulance.
Future[edit]
In January 2021, Baron Cohen told Variety that there are no plans for a third movie, saying, "There was a purpose to this movie, and I don't really see the purpose to doing it again. So yeah, he's locked away in the cupboard."[134]
In February 2021, Baron Cohen revealed he intended to retire the character of Borat because of risks to his personal safety, feeling anxious over the March for Our Rights scene from Borat 2.[135]