Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Fresh to Las Vegas with no connections, Nomi Malone takes a job as an exotic dancer. Her talents are quickly noticed by Cristal, a headlining dancer who senses an opportunity to bolster her own act. But Nomi won’t play second fiddle and soon begins her venomous path to the top, ruthlessly backstabbing anyone who gets in her way.
Showgirls is a fascinatingly excessive film that has achieved cult status for its campy, over-the-top qualities. The plot is a predictable rise-to-the-top melodrama riddled with clichés and poor narrative choices. The acting, particularly Elizabeth Berkley's lead performance, is wildly uneven — swinging between earnest and inadvertently comedic — though Gina Gershon chews scenery with deliberate relish. Cinematography under Jost Vacano is glossy and polished, capturing Las Vegas neon and spectacle competently if not artistically. The film's novelty comes from its sheer audacious excess and willingness to go further than almost any mainstream Hollywood film of its era — it occupies a singular cultural space as an unintentional camp classic. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfying, with Nomi's arc resolving in a rushed, unconvincing manner that undermines whatever cautionary tale the film attempted.