Borat Subsequent Moviefilm ends with a major twist when it reveals that Kazakhstan created the coronavirus as revenge for the original Borat ruining the country's reputation. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm takes place fourteen years after the first movie, and follows Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) as he's given a chance to clear his name by returning to the United States to deliver a bribe to Vice President Mike Pence. When Borat discovers that his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) stowed away on the cargo ship and ate his intended bribe, he decides to give her to Mike Pence — and later Rudy Giuliani — instead.
In the political satire movie, after Borat fails his mission of gaining favor from the United States via bribing a Trump insider, he and Tutar return to Kazakhstan, convinced that Borat is about to be violently executed. To their surprise, Borat's boss assures him that he is only human and sets him free. After looking around the office, Borat and Tutar realize that the true purpose of Borat's journey was never to deliver a bribe — instead, Kazakhstan created the coronavirus and used Borat as a carrier to spread it around the world in retribution for the country's humiliation after Borat. Borat and Tutar use that information to blackmail the Kazakhstan government and turn the country into a feminist utopia (they export grooms now!) and declare yankees the new enemy of Kazakhstan.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilms's twist ending retroactively paints the rest of the film in a different light. Borat realizes that his journey to America via a cargo ship — an indirect route that took him all over the world — coincided with early coronavirus hotspots such as Wuhan, China. The ending highlights the biggest difference between Borat and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which is that Borat satirized American culture in general, whereas Borat Subsequent Moviefilm specifically targeted the Republican Party and right-wing conspiracy theorists, and ends with explicitly telling people to vote.
Borat 2's Ending Reveals Kazakhstan Created COVID-19: Why & How
The ending of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm makes it clear that Kazakhstan created the coronavirus for revenge, and used Borat as an unwitting super-spreader. Their plan is outlined with posters on the wall of Borat's boss' office, beginning with one titled "How To Get Revenge On World For Movie." In a series of flashbacks, Borat recalls the enormous shot he was given before leaving Kazakhstan, which the doctor told him was "gypsy tears to keep you safe" and suddenly remembers that they were putting a bat into a beaker at the time. One of the poster confirms his suspicions, saying that the virus was going to be spread with injections from a bat or pangolin.
Borat realizes that Kazakhstan's global embarrassment after Borat caused them to turn him into a biological weapon intended to bring the world to its knees. It also explains one of the primary plot holes of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: why Borat would once again be sent to the United States after bringing so much embarrassment to Kazakhstan the first time. There was never any reason for Borat to bribe Mike Pence or Rudy Giuliani — the entire plan was just a way for Borat to spread the coronavirus.
Tom Hanks' Cameo In Borat 2's Ending
One of the most talked-about cameos was Tom Hanks' near the end of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. During Borat's realization that he has been spreading the coronavirus throughout the world, he is shown coughing on Tom Hanks in Australia while asking the actor for an autograph. Hank was one of the first celebrities to announce he had the coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic, when the impact of the virus wasn't fully understood. The cameo takes place in Australia as a reference to the fact Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, first caught the virus there while he was working on a film — and implies that he caught it from Borat himself.
Borat 2's Ending Mocks Coronavirus Conspiracies & The U.S. Reaction
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is designed to mock existing coronavirus conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the virus was purposely created as a biological weapon to bring down the United States. The twist ending flashes back to earlier scenes in the movie, where participants were spreading real coronavirus conspiracy theories. A major example is the interview with Rudy Giuliani, where he says the he believes the virus was created in a lab and spread around the world, or with Borat's quarantine QAnon roommates, who state that they believe the "plague" was created on purpose. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm pushes that idea to the extreme, creating a world where the virus was literally created from a bat in Kazakhstan and injected into Borat's arm for the specific purpose of spreading it around the world — and it plays the idea for laughs to emphasize how ridiculous it is.
The virus is first mentioned in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm by Mike Pence at CPAC, when he says that, "we have fifteen cases of the coronavirus... we're ready for anything," while unknowingly in the presence of the super-spreader himself. Borat himself is caught up in the pandemic when he unexpectedly goes into quarantine with two anti-maskers in Olympia. At the March For Our Rights rally, Borat leads the crowd in a song that says (among other things), the coronavirus is a liberal hoax, and they are going to inject Obama and Dr. Fauci with the "Wuhan flu." Again, since Borat is a super-spreader and the movie plays on the idea that the conspiracy theories are true, his presence at the rally is explicitly mocking the people who sing along with him — and who would have gotten the virus from him.
The U.S. reaction is called out again at the end of the film. Borat and Tutar, now a pair of reporters in the newly-feminist utopia of Kazakhstan, are presiding over the Running of the Americans. Two performers, dressed as a stereotypical American and a Karen, beat up and cough on a performer dressed as Dr. Fauci, who is holding a coronavirus vaccine, and Borat joyfully declares that, "the Americans are victorious in their battle against science!" It's impossible to misinterpret his meaning, which is specifically mocking the U.S. response to the pandemic, and its complete rejection of leading health expert Dr. Fauci.
Borat 2's Real Message Is To Vote Against Trump
The final two shots of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm say "now vote, or you will be execute." Given that the imperative follows nearly ninety minutes of repeatedly undermining of the Republican party and their mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, the movie's overall message is clear: don't reelect for Trump. It goes out of its way to portray the Trump administration as at best, incompetent, and at worst, outright evil — particularly with Tutar's controversial scene with Rudy Giuliani. The Running of the Americans drives this point home, with Borat explicitly condemning the U.S. response to the pandemic and declaring that the new enemy of Kazakhstan is the yankee. Although Borat Subsequent Moviefilm doesn't specify who to vote for, the message of the film is undoubtedly encouraging its audience to vote against the current government.
The wild twist ending of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm mocks conspiracy theories while simultaneously criticizing how the United States handled the coronavirus pandemic. The film pushes existing conspiracy theories to the extreme by revealing that the virus was created in a lab — but on in Kazakhstan, as revenge for Borat. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a sharp satire from beginning to end, but the twist ending solidifies the fact that Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a searing indictment of the world in these increasingly strange times.