Small Details You Missed In Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Contains spoilers for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Jagshemash! Sascha Baron Cohen's esteemed fictional reporter Borat Sagdiyev is back on the U.S. streets, as Amazon Prime Video's Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan unleashes the character upon the unwary world after 14 long years. This time, Borat is on a mission to redeem himself and his country in order to deliver a prestigious gift to America's higher-ups — but as 2006's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan taught us, the journalistic missions of this fictional Kazakshtani man rarely go according to plan.
As Borat wanders the land and tries to deal with his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova), hoping to transform her into the "perfect" woman to present as a gift to Vice President Mike Pence, viewers are treated to a heaping helping of Baron Cohen's trademark comedy, which stems from absurd real-life interactions with unsuspecting people. In fact, the mockumentary's barrage of jokes, uncomfortable situations, and surprisingly moving moments is so unrelenting that it's almost impossible to catch everything during your first viewing.
With that in mind, here are some small details you might have missed in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm has a dark Kevin Spacey reference
One of the mockumentary's creepiest examples of black comedy comes near its very end, when Borat and Tutar return to their country, become celebrated journalists, and launch a feminist revolution. Unfortunately, the fictionalized version of Kazakhstan as presented in the film hasn't quite managed to wrap its head around the concept of gender equality, since one of the country's (again, fictional) societal reforms is that they've stopped trafficking young brides and started trafficking young grooms.
When Borat's voiceover happily explains this groundbreaking new policy, the movie shows us a group of tuxedo-clad teenage boys being shipped abroad. In a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, we also see the recipient's name: "Mr. K. Spacey, Hollywood, California, US&A."
The shipping form is a reference to the sexual harassment allegations several young men lodged against Kevin Spacey. Considering this, the quick segment counts as one of the darkest moments in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
The Justin Trudeau double jab in Borat 2
Eagle-eyed viewers may note that Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's content warning mentions sexuality, drug use, foul language, nudity, and blackface (via Twitter). As Vice points out, the reason for that blackface warning becomes evident in a joke that happens roughly five minutes in, when the mockumentary briefly shows an image of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in blackface.
In the movie, Borat mistakes it as an image of a Black world leader, but the photo is actually a very real and very infamous one from a 2001 "Arabian Nights" party at West Point Grey Academy, where Trudeau appeared in a turban and robes, wearing brownface (via Time). The photo itself is a very Borat-like callback to an unsavory incident involving a politician, but the fact that Justin Trudeau is a reason for a blackface content warning in a movie like Borat Subsequent Moviefilm takes the jab to a completely different level.
The Tom Hanks timeline doesn't quite match
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm delivers its biggest plot twist near the end, when it's revealed that the events of the movie were driven by the Kazakhstani leadership's plot to spread COVID-19, using Borat as their Patient Zero.
Unfortunately, if you compare the movie's timeline to real-world events, you'll quickly discover that Borat's meeting with Tom Hanks would be outright impossible. In order to go to Wuhan, China in time to start the pandemic, Borat would have needed to start his journey sometime in late 2019, and ABC News reported the pivotal Trump impersonator incident during Mike Pence's CPAC speech on February 11, 2020. Meanwhile, Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson announced their COVID-19 diagnosis on March 11.
To be fair, while this might raise a few eyebrows among the more timeline-conscious fans, it's pretty easy to give this particular plot hole a pass. After all, if your movie has a chance of getting a Tom Hanks cameo, you just roll up your sleeves and shoehorn in that Tom Hanks cameo.
Borat 2's fictional version of Kazakhstan seems to buy into the flat Earth theory
Like its predecessor, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is fond of milking every embarrassing situation to the maximum effect. However, the movie is also full of small, offhand puns that point toward a much larger universe of which the movie's events are only a tiny part.
One such gem comes in the pivotal yet low-key car discussion between Tutar and her "babysitter" Jeanise Jones, who tries to steer the young Ms. Sagdiyev away from Borat and his rather misguided attitudes on women. In an attempt to defend her father, Tutar notes, "My daddy is the smartest person in the whole, flat world."
Casual and quickly delivered as it is, the line in and of itself is T-shirt-worthy enough to make it into the movie's official trailer. However, it's gone in a moment, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm never returns to the idea — leaving the viewer wondering just how Tutar came to buy into the flat Earth theory. Since the movie's beginning makes it clear that she grew up in a shed with just a TV for company, it's safe to assume that Tutar probably received her education from her country's national broadcasts — which, in turn, implies that Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's fictional version of Kazakhstan is on board with the flat Earth thing as well.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now.