Showgirls
An ambitious Las Vegas dancer claws toward stardom through a gaudy, exploitative entertainment hierarchy where desire and professional rivalry are inseparable.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- campy
- provocative
- abrasive
- cult movie night
- adult movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly regarded the film as incoherent and demeaning despite its lavish production values, fierce lead performance, and later camp appeal.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film's heightened Vegas melodrama, theatrical acting, and notorious excess have made camp interpretation central to its cultural afterlife.
Nomi's pursuit of Stardust success is structured by strip-club and topless-show economies, male gatekeepers, and competition between women.
Dance performances, striptease, nudity, and the Stardust production repeatedly blur entertainment value with the objectification of performers.
Nomi moves between the Cheetah Club and Stardust while navigating producers, dancers, directors, and performers competing for status.
Films like Showgirls, and why
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
shared sexploitation framing, theatrical excess, and critique of commodified female sexuality
Mommie Dearest
shared camp sensibility, erotic spectacle, melodramatic ambition, and transgressive presentation
All About Eve
shared backstage rivalry, performance-world ambition, and heightened melodrama
Casino
shared Las Vegas setting, show-business corruption, and morally abrasive ambition
Movie Details
- Director
- Paul Verhoeven
- Release Date
- 1995-09-22
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Rating
- 5.6 / 10 (1446)
Cast
- Elizabeth Berkley
- Kyle MacLachlan
- Gina Gershon
- Glenn Plummer
- Robert Davi
- Alan Rachins
- Gina Ravera
- Lin Tucci
- Greg Travis
- Al Ruscio
Common questions
- What is Showgirls about?
- An ambitious Las Vegas dancer claws toward stardom through a gaudy, exploitative entertainment hierarchy where desire and professional rivalry are inseparable.
- What is Showgirls like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Showgirls as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Showgirls violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Showgirls as mild.
- What did critics think of Showgirls?
- Critics broadly regarded the film as incoherent and demeaning despite its lavish production values, fierce lead performance, and later camp appeal.
- Which films are like Showgirls?
- Films with a similar feel include Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Mommie Dearest, All About Eve, and Casino.
- How long is Showgirls?
- Showgirls runs 131 minutes.
