Beneath the glitz and glam of The Last Showgirl is a heartbreaking story about what mothers give up

On the surface, Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl is a gloomy, glitzy tale about a Las Vegas dancer who doesn’t quite know what to do after she gets the news that her show is closing. Underneath, it’s a story about motherhood and the sacrifices we make in order to live out our biggest and wildest dreams. I spent the last 45 minutes of the movie crying – and then I called my mom after.

The film, which is somehow only Gia Coppola’s third feature, stars Pamela Anderson as Shelly, a showgirl who has been performing in the same show, Le Razzle Dazzle, for three decades. Shelly loves the show, and, at 57, has no intention of retiring. Sometime after Shelly learns that the show is coming to an end, we learn that she has an estranged daughter named Hannah (Billie Lourd) – and, to me, this is the true core of the film.

Give ‘em the ol’ razzle dazzle

There’s some irony to the title of Shelly’s show, given that it doesn’t impress or entertain Hannah at all. As we get further and further into the film, we learn that Shelly put her career as a dancer first, and basically raised Hannah until she couldn’t anymore. Hannah, now 22 and about to graduate college, was raised by Shelly’s ex-husband – and the two don’t have much of a relationship at all. Though it isn’t for lack of trying: Shelly, suddenly feeling like her life is over, calls Hannah and asks her to come over. Hannah does want a relationship with her mother (who she, heartbreakingly, only addresses by her first name), but feels as though she chose Le Razzle Dazzle over her.

There is a scene I won’t spoil for you that involves Hannah confronting her mother over her life choices, and it’s here that Shelly has a full and complete breakdown. She starts to question the trajectory of her entire life, her choices, and whether staying in Vegas to dance for 30 years was worth it after all. I can’t imagine anyone else playing this role, as there’s something so perfect about her sadly smoking a cigarette against a backdrop of fake palm trees, the Vegas sunset reflecting off those shiny city buildings. When we see the sequined costumes, the bright pink feathers, the jeweled headpieces, the rush of running backstage to make your cue – and just how purely and truly blissful it makes Shelly – it’s hard not to hate Hannah a little. We, the viewer, get so caught up in the romance of it all that we absolutely get why Shelly put it first.

A dream is a wish your heart makes

I’ll be honest: I don’t know what the moral of this particular story is supposed to be. Do we pursue our dreams? Do we give them up for someone else? I think Coppola, and screenwriter Kate Gersten, meant to leave that up to us. The movie doesn’t decide for us – and maybe that’s why I can’t seem to stop thinking about it. The understood norm is that a mother makes sacrifices for her child, gives up everything (lifelong dreams included) for her child – not the other way around. But maybe that’s what makes the film almost jarring: we don’t really see it depicted this way around in cinema. Sure, we see the concept of the ‘bad mother’ more oftentimes than not, but is Shelly actually a bad mother? Well, that’s up for the viewer to decide. And that’s part of what makes this movie something truly special. Much like the Las Vegas speakeasies or the forgotten museums, The Last Showgirl feels like a hidden gem among the big-budget dramas and biopics we’ve seen throughout this awards season. Though it feels quietly tucked away, it’s something everyone should see.

The Last Showgirl is in select theaters now. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond.