Growth, transition, and chosen family are key players in The Last Showgirl – a quietly powerful film in which Pamela Anderson shines in her greatest role to date. The film opens with Anderson center stage, glittered and glam, in an ill-fated audition for a Vegas show. Her emotions in this opening scene run the gamut from elation to frustration to anger – and foreshadow the emotional tone in store for the next 90 minutes.

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Shelly (Anderson) is the longest-running cast member of a struggling burlesque show. She also serves as a mother-figure for her young coworker Jodie (Kiernan Shipka), and a close friend to fellow dancer Mary-Anne (Brenda Strong). The show has long been one of Shelley’s greatest joys – with the bright lights of Vegas helping dull a certain familial rift that’s followed her for decades. When the show’s director Eddie (Dave Bautista) announces it is shutting down, Shelley is forced to consider a life beyond the walls of her comfortable gig and come to terms with the person she is outside of it.

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2024 was a big year for women battling age stereotypes head-on. While Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance takes a more aggressive and metaphorical approach, The Last Showgirl – a debut directorial for Gia Coppola – chooses subtlety over shock. The result is a slightly less exciting but equally effective stance on the pain that accompanies unwanted change. The casting is solid, with only Bautista feeling slightly out of place among the group. And you don’t want to miss a frosty-lipped, spray-tanned Jamie Lee Curtis doing an impromptu dance in a casino to Bonnie Tyler’s "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

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For a film adorned with sparkles and boas, The Last Showgirl is surprisingly understated, with much of it having that low-budget, “shot-on-an-iPhone” feel. It helps create an earnestness that endears you to Shelley and her plight, even if the lack of decent lighting did grind my gears a bit. Come to The Last Showgirl for its strong ensemble cast and surprisingly effective third act twist. Stay for its show-stopping performance from Pamela Anderson.