Movie critic, Paul McGuire Grimes from Paul’s Trip to the Movies, gives us his thoughts on the new season of Severance and reviews The Last Showgirl.

SEVERANCE Season 2 (AppleTV+)

Severance became a breakout hit for AppleTV. It’s a complicated show about work-life balance. The severed employees of Lumon fought back against their leadership leading a revolt at the end of the first season. Season 2 kicks off five months after their revolt, but Adam Scott’s Mark is confused on the timeline of events of what just happened. The headlines all read, “Innies blow the whistle on Lumon.” There are some new employees at Lumon, but his team is slowly trickles back in. There’s something strange going on with Helly who may not be as trustworthy as we thought. Patricia Arquette’s character, Harmony Cobel, has been stripped of her leadership position and replaced by Seth Milchik. Mark’s innie realizes that his outie’s wife is alive, which sets off a confounding realization he must come to about the realities of his innie and outie life.

-Starring: Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, Tramell Tillman, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Christopher Walken. Gwendoline Christie, Bob Balaban, Alia Shawkat join the cast

-First episode of Season 2 premieres January 17^th with the rest of the episodes airing weekly

-It’s been roughly two years since Season 1 ended, and I’d suggest brushing up with a rewatch of the finale.

-Season 2 expands on its unique premise with more world building both inside and outside the walls of Lumon as the innies become face to face with what their outies lives are like and vice versa. There are specific character-centered episodes peeling back the layers of some of these characters and the lives they had before they were severed.

-If you love the unexplained, wild nature of the first season, Season 2 goes in even harder as it doesn’t try to replicate the first season but further complicates what’s going on for the severed employees after their revolt. You must pay attention given the complexities of the dual nature of the character’s innies and outies.

-The unpredictable nature of this show is in full effect, as I continue to second guess what’s happening and who can be trusted along the way. There’s a haunting and sad atmosphere that consistently drives this series and the emotional weight that sneaks up on the audience.

-Don’t expect a lot of answers, it almost seems like the writers love throwing out curveballs, bombshell revelations, mysteries, and leaving it up to the audience to sort all the pieces and put it all back together.

RATING: 4 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

THE LAST SHOWGIRL (in theaters)

Pamela Anderson gives the best performance of her career as the title role in The Last Showgirl. She plays Shelly, the longest cast member of a Las Vegas showgirl revue called “Razzle Dazzle”. Her friend, Annette, now works as a cocktail waitress as she left the show years ago. This is the only life Shelly knows when she receives word that “Razzle Dazzle” will be closing after a 38-year run. It’s the end of an era, and the end of Shelly’s career. She doesn’t know what to do with herself while her younger castmates know they can dance and audition for other Vegas revues.

-Starring: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, Billie Lourd,

-Directed by Gia Coppola, the granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola. She cements her place with a strong entry in the legendary Coppola family business.

-Despite the big, lavish feel of Vegas, Coppola gives this film an intimate quality narrowing in on the personal, human lives of what these dancers face behind the scenes. It’s a character study on what happens when the life we know and love is stripped away.

-Everything about this film felt real and authentic from the evolving look of Vegas to the rundown sets and costumes from Razzle Dazzle. The performances all felt grounded in a deep, personal place.

-Pamela Anderson is a complete revelation, as she’s never received a role like this that feels tailor-made for her. She shows such range and nuance with Shelly and the complicated sacrifices of what it meant to give up her life and family to be a Vegas showgirl.

-Jamie Lee Curtis has a small, but funny role as Shelly’s best friend Annette. We have all met and known Annettes. Anderson and Curtis both received Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for their work.

-Speaks on the themes of sexism and misogyny on how women are treated in the industry versus the men and what it means to age out of the career you cherish.

-One of my favorite movies of 2024.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS