The following contains spoilers for The Last Showgirl.The Last Showgirl‘s focus on a dancer inching closer to the end of her career is one of the most bittersweet and earnest films Pamela Anderson has ever appeared in. Directed by Gia Coppola, The Last Showgirl is focused on Pamela Anderson’s Shelly, a dancer who has spent decades as the face of “Le Razzle Dazzle,” a dance revue on the Las Vegas strip. At the expense of a more stable life with her daughter Hannah, Shelly has been following her pᴀssion for decades. However, the announcement that the show is closing sets off a story of somber reflection.

The Last Showgirl‘s characters are all figures from Shelly’s orbit, ranging from her best friend and fellow dancers to the daughter that she’s become distant with. The film keeps the focus on Shelly throughout, highlighting the emotional toll that her pᴀssions have cost her. The film is unflinching but affectionate with its central characters, never letting them off the hooks for their decisions even while sympathizing with them. This sets up The Last Showgirl‘s surprisingly somber but effective ending and gives Pamela Anderson her best performance ever.

Why Shelly’s Vegas Show Ends In The Last Showgirl

Changing Times And Tastes Means It’s Time For Shelly’s Show To Conclude

Shelly’s steady work in Las Vegas comes to a close in The Last Showgirl because of changing tastes and times, reflecting Shelly’s emotional arc in the film. Throughout The Last Showgirl, Shelly wrestles with the changing world and culture that surrounds her profession as a dancer. A new circus at the same casino has been doing well and will fully replace the old-fashioned revue Shelly spent decades starring in. The film repeatedly mentions that Shelly’s show is the last of its kind on the strip and that business has been bad enough that the theater cancels “Le Razzle Dazzle” after several years as a mainstay.

Thematically, this announcement coincides with Shelly being forced to confront that her age and skill set don’t fit into the modern definition of entertainment in the city. Shelly may recall the heights of the show’s success decades previously, and she may cling to their glitz and glamorous roots in France, but none of that matters to directors and managers in the modern day. Shelly’s show coming to a close is also the ending of her career as a dancer, despite her clear skill and pᴀssion for it. This makes her distress and denial over the show closing far more personal.

Shelly & Eddie’s Relationship In The Last Showgirl Explained

Eddie Is One Of Shelly’s Friends, But They Have A Deeper History Than The Audience Initially Suspects

One of the more unique relationships in The Last Showgirl is the one between Shelly and Eddie. Eddie is a producer for the showgirl performance, having become a similar fixture at the theater in contrast to Shelly. It’s teased throughout the film that Eddie has deeper feelings for Shelly, but that she sees them as friends and nothing more, even when Shelly’s best friend Annette suggests sparking a romance with him. This is complicated later in the film when it’s revealed that Eddie is the father of Shelly’s daughter, Hannah.

Hannah is unaware of this connection, with Eddie’s vulnerable reaction to meeting her suggesting this does deeply affect him. Eddie represents a different path for Shelly, one with more domestic stability. This is represented by the reveal that Eddie will keep his job as a stage manager at the theater. This makes their eventual argument during an attempted date all the more heartbreaking. Despite Eddie’s clear affection for Shelly, her frustrations end up preventing any further development of their relationship. This plays into Shelly’s self-destructive tendencies with her other major relationships in the film.

Why Shelly’s Biggest Challenge Is Being A Mother

Shelly’s Struggles To Be A Maternal Figure Are Shown Throughout The Film

One of The Last Showgirl‘s most powerful emotional throughlines is the exploration of Shelly’s efforts (and failings) to be a maternal figure. Although Shelly clearly loves her college-bound daughter, Hannah, their relationship is very strained. The film steadily reveals that Shelly raised Hannah as a single mother for a time, but struggled to juggle proper child care with her career. Hannah mentions she’s been primarily raised in a different household, who push her to attend college for a more statically stable career. Shelly’s sweet-natured support for Hannah’s pH๏τography pᴀssion is kind but is undercut by Shelly’s own stunted ambitions.

Their relationship strains even further throughout the film, despite their efforts to reconcile. Hannah’s frustrations over Shelly’s failings brews over into a verbal spat after Hannah is unimpressed seeing the Razzle Dazzler for herself. Making matters worse, Shelly also becomes a quasi-mother figure to the younger dancers Mary-Anne and Jodie. Jodie, in particular, clearly sees Shelly as a mentor, and is deeply hurt when Shelly brushes off her calls for support and love. Although Shelly is never portrayed as heartless or cruel, her singular focus on herself and her work above all else undercuts her connections to her friends and family.

What Happens To Shelly After Her Failed Audition

Shelly’s Lowest Moment Comes After Her First Audition In Years

Shelly’s first audition after decades of steady work serves as The Last Showgirl‘s bookends. Shelly’s audition opens the film, before cutting back to the prior weeks. The film’s climax sees Shelly’s hopes for new quickly sH๏τ down, with her attempts to defend her performance belittled by the casting director. The result is Shelly’s lowest moment, as the career she poured her heart and soul into at the expense of her personal relationships leaves her behind. It’s a heartbreaking turn, only exasperated by Mary-Anne (who was also at the audition) trying in vain to comfort her.

However, the end of the film does imply that Shelly reconciles with both Mary-Anne and Jodie, suggesting Shelly will be able to move on from the loss. Shelly’s reliance on her loved ones is also shown through her friendship with Annette, a former showgirl who has been forced to take a waitress gig. Eventually revealed to be living out of her car and too ashamed to admit it, Annette is brought to tears when she finally reveals the truth to Shelly — and even more moved when Shelly opens her home to her, underscoring the film’s central themes about love.

The Real Meaning Of The Last Showgirl

The Last Showgirl Examines The Abrupt End Of Dreams

The Last Showgirl doesn’t have a last-minute reprieve or happy ending for Shelly. The film ends with the last show, highlighting how Shelly still feels fulfilled even if the show ends. The film is a somber reflection on how dreams and ambitions can come to disappointing and blunt endings. Shelly’s future is unclear, her career prospects in question following her audition. Her relationship with Hannah and Eddie is also in question, with her imagined visions of an approving Hannah suggesting that that connection may be more strained than ever.

However, Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl is more bittersweet than overtly tragic. The friendships and connections Shelly has around her ensure that her life won’t be over just because the show is. This underscores the somber reality that dreams and ambitions may come to an inglorious end, but friendship and love can carry someone through life. Even then, during her final performance, Shelly gives it her all and embraces the spotlight one more time. This gives The Last Showgirl some of its most potent and powerful emotional strength.

How The Last Showgirl Ending Was Received

Critics Found The Ending Fitting

The Last Showgirl might not have given audiences a picture-perfect happy ending, but critics and audiences alike mostly seem to approve of it because it is fitting for Shelly’s story. While the movie is not presented as a traditional tragedy, it does tell the story of a woman who focused so much on her career in a single show that she allowed everything else to fall away. That lack of connection she has with others around her, and the fractured relationships she has with the people she cares for the most are a tragedy.

In their review of the movie, The New York Times points out that by the time the audience gets to the end of the movie, they know and understand Shelly. They see her journey for what it is:

By the time the film ends, you know a great deal more about Shelly and her world than you did at the beginning, but not because the character goes through some kind of hackneyed movieland journey of self-discovery and acceptance. You know her because Coppola makes you see the woman who’s been there from the start. All you have to do is open your eyes and heart to her dazzle.

Movie fans on Reddit, more often than not, thought the ending was just a bit too hasty. One Redditor made a comment expressing just that:

Ended before it was ready to, but perhaps that was part of the point? Thought it could have used another 10-15 mins of runtime to connect things better.

The idea that cutting Shelly’s story off just a bit earlier than the audience is ready for being intentional makes perfect sense. After all, Shelly’s whole world has been pulled out from under her and her career is ending before she is truly ready to face the fact that the world has changed. It makes the ending of The Last Showgirl particularly fitting for Shelly and the audience that has been watching her story.