Some time in my 20s, I came up with a theory about comedic films: every six years, a movie will come along and make me laugh in a way that I rarely ever have before. You see, in 1994, I saw “Dumb & Dumber,” in 2000, I saw “Meet the Parents” and in 2006, I saw “Borat.” Now, I cannot confirm (or deny) if that theory has held up the way I might have expected it to, but since then, it has truly been every six or eight years that a film has made me laugh as those aforementioned movies did. So, what is it that makes those films stand out the way that they do? Take “Borat,” for example…
Many of us knew who Sacha Baron Cohen was, as his outrageous characters in “Da Ali G Show.” He teamed you with famed director Larry Charles (of “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and brought us something fresh and unique, at that time, to a movie theater. Yes, there were moments that felt uncomfortable. Yes, there were situations that made your jaw drop. YES, it was absolutely hilarious, as a result! We all knew that it could probably never be done again, either. The fame was so great that, not just in the United States, but all around the world, which made the news of a sequel that much more surprising, though in a good way.
The greatest difference for me, personally, was realizing that my approach to watching a film has changed so much over the past 14 years. As big of a fan as I was of the original movie, how would I go about keeping an objective viewpoint this time around?
The film started out very similar to the previous one: quick title cards made to look foreign and low-budget, combined with the use of Cyrillic alphabetic letters. The ethnic music plays in the background and we are welcomed to another part of the world by a supposed professional television reporter. There is a new mission handed down by the government to our titular character, but as we find out very early and with quite a shocking display, he will not have the company of his favorite producer. 
Instead, he will have a surprise visit from his offspring, Tutar Sagdiyev , played by Maria Bakalova, who has been acting, professionally, for at least the past three years, but has never been involved in a movie approaching the magnitude of this one.
The original mission is cancelled due to a strange occurrence involving Tutar and then the real quest begins. The new plan is to beautify Tutar and present her to the current Vice President of the United States. Along the way, the cultural and linguistic barriers between two people from Kazakhstan and the various people of America bring us the expected comedic exchanges, though they do not feel outdated or tired. 
As you can probably imagine, as well, there is virtually no topic that is off the table, whether it be something as controversial as abortion or as taboo as a “Mood Blood Dance.”
What makes this sequel different is the added depth of character for Borat, as well as his growing relationship to his daughter as the story unfolds. At one point, it seemed that the film was as much about Tutor, if not more so, than it was about Borat and I have to admit that I had no real problem with that. It was an interesting and unexpected turn in the story.
Of course, already, some complaints have been made from some of the people who appeared in the movie. I would predict that there should not be as long of a list of grievances as there was before, but only time will be able to tell. 
As a viewer, we have to decide if what we are seeing is real or scripted from time to time and occasionally there could be a blurring of the lines that could make some truly well-known individuals look unfavorable. It has happened many times before and I am quite sure that it will continue well into the future.
Do I think that this follow-up is as great as its predecessor? No, but I think that would have been impossible to pull off. When a second installment is made, it can go one of two directions: it can be a retread of the first one or it can try to be something completely different. I think that this one tried to compromise those two and did so competently. My biggest take-away is a positive one. As I see it, the message is two-fold: there IS such a thing a cultural relativism, but there is also such a thing as universal acceptance. We can observe both at the same time without being offended or cruel to others and at the end of the day, perhaps our differences do not make either of us bad people. I never thought I would be making such a serious summation concerning “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” but there it is and I have no regrets.
Director: Jason Woliner
Screenwriters: Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Erica Rivinoja and Dan Swimer
Music: Erran Baron Cohen
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova, Dani Popescu as Premier Nursultan Nazarbayev, Manuel Vieru as Dr. Yamak, Miroslav Tolj as Nursultan Tulyakbay, Alin Popa as Borat’s son, Ion Gheorghe as Bilak Sagdiyev, Nicolae Gheorghe as Biram Sagdiyev, Nicoleta Ciobanu as Babuska and various cameos and bystanders throughout
Distributor: Amazon Studios
Release: October 23rd, 2020
