Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is so ridiculous that it’s a wonder how much of the movie really happened and how much of it was staged. When it comes to Sacha Baron Cohen, there is virtually no limit to how far the actor — and his costars — will go. Still, some scenes required a little more set-up than others in order to deliver that same shocking effect within the movie's narrative.
Fourteen years after Borat’s first stint in the US, the disgraced journalist returns to offer his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) as a child bride to Vice President Mike Pence. As both Sagdiyevs travel across the states, their antics take them everywhere from conservatives rallies to debutante balls to QAnon strongholds.
With several shocking moments and controversial scenes in Borat 2, what's perhaps most surprising is how little of the movie was staged. Cohen has a well-deserved reputation for pranking his targets and using biting satire to reveal hidden (and often ugly) truths about American culture. As such, much of what made it into the sequel movie is real, despite the framing narrative obviously being fiction.
How Much of Borat 2 Really Happened
Much of the shocking footage seen in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm actually happened. The infamous scene in which Borat donned a Donald Trump costume to deliver Tutar to Mike Pence at the Conservative Political Action Conference was real. According to Cohen himself, the actor had to hide in a bathroom stall for five hours while sneaking into the conference. The Borat 2 team was almost exposed when the security team’s metal detector went off, but Cohen was luckily able to pass through by claiming he had a defibrillator. The Borat 2 scenes with Tutar and Jeanise Jones, her babysitter, were also completely authentic. The Oklahoma City local recently revealed in an interview with Variety that she was genuinely concerned for Tutar’s well-being throughout shooting. “I’m thinking she’s really from a third-world [country] and that’s how they treat women and young girls,” said Jones.
Even some of the more shocking moments in Borat 2 weren't staged. Borat’s stay with QAnon believers was unscripted. Cohen lived with the two right-wing conspiracy theorists in Lakewood, Washington, just as the pandemic shutdown started to get into full swing. The actor revealed to the New York Times that the scene was a serious challenge, stating,“I was waking up, having breakfast, lunch, dinner, going to sleep as Borat when I lived in a house with these two conspiracy theorists. You can't have a moment out of character." Perhaps the most alarming moment that actually happened was the controversial scene with Rudy Giuliani. Footage from hidden cameras planted in a hotel bedroom show Giuliani lying down on the bed with his hand in his pants while staring at Bakalova. While Giuliani has rebuked the controversial Borat 2 scene as “a complete fabrication,” Cohen has suggested people should watch the movie and judge for themselves.
How Much of Borat 2 Was Staged
Several iconic moments in Borat 2 were set up in order to create the right circumstances. Borat’s encounter with Judith Dim Evans in Temple Kol Emeth was largely pre-planned. Cohen reportedly broke character prior to the scene, the first time in Borat history that he has done so, in order to tell Evans that he was “playing an ignorant character as a means of Holocaust education.” Evans, who passed away earlier this year, became a highlight of the film with her compassion for Borat, despite his obvious anti-semitism.
Borat’s racist song at the March for Our Rights Rally was also largely constructed. The musicians were a part of the Borat 2 team, and, contrary to the spur-of-the-moment performance that the movie suggests, Baron Cohen the “Wuhan Flu” song performance was set up ahead of filming. Similarly, the debutante ball where Baron Cohen and Bakalova perform a bizarre "moon blood" dance was also staged. The movie's production team booked the event, and each father-daughter pair was reportedly paid $100 to participate under the impression that they were extras in a movie about a formal Southern dance.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm pushes the limits of mockumentaries, but it's clear that some scenarios needed extensive planning. Even if some scenes were more real or fake than others, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm sheds light on the current state of affairs in American and conservative culture.