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Showgirls

Play trailer Poster for Showgirls NC-17 Released Sep 22, 1995 2h 11m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
25% Tomatometer 81 Reviews 38% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Nomi (Elizabeth Berkley) arrives in Las Vegas with only a suitcase and a dream of becoming a top showgirl. She quickly befriends Molly (Gina Ravera), who works at the high-profile Stardust Hotel, and lands a job at a seedy strip club. A chance meeting with Cristal (Gina Gershon), the Stardust's marquee dancer, and her powerful boyfriend, Zack (Kyle MacLachlan), brings Nomi one step closer to realizing her dream. But, as she ascends to the top, Nomi begins to wonder if it's all worth it.
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Showgirls

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Critics Consensus

Vile, contemptible, garish, and misogynistic -- and that might just be exactly Showgirls' point.

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Critics Reviews

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Are we rushing to clothe the naked emperor by contriving emollient or contrarian explanations for all this? Perhaps. It remains weirdly innocent in its absurdity. Rated: 3/5 Jun 4, 2025 Full Review Judy Gerstel Toronto Star The filmmakers rub our noses in the whole sordid sex thing we love to hate and hate to love, no doubt laughing at us the entire time, all the way to the bank. Rated: 1/5 Mar 27, 2024 Full Review Joe Pollack St. Louis Post-Dispatch Whatever Eszterhas and director Paul Verhoeven may say about going behind the scenes in Vegas, they have made a film to highlight little more than prurient interest. Mar 27, 2024 Full Review Aisha Harris Pop Culture Happy Hour (NPR Podcast) It's really, really fun. And it's terrible. But I think part of what makes it so good and what has made it become the camp classic that it is is the fact that everyone is so committed to this movie.  Sep 30, 2025 Full Review Sam Moore Vague Visages Whether or not anyone thinks that it succeeds as a satire of the male gaze and objectification, it relishes in the trashiness of the surfaces it may or may not want to critique...the camp glory of Showgirls, however, comes from those very surfaces. Jun 5, 2024 Full Review Gary Wolcott Tri-City Herald Really, Paul? Plain and simple. Showgirls is pornography. In his hands, and those of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, it might be better labeled poor nography. Rated: 1/5 Mar 29, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Trevor G. Made it 5 minutes. The acting is so bad I quickly became uninterested in the plot…assuming there is one. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 09/27/25 Full Review Ed . Darlin' movie. Classy, charming, witty, meaningful, poetic are all words that won't describe Showgirls. If you want quality then watch 12 Angry Men. If you want hysterical camp that is oddly engrossing, enjoyable with repeated viewings, perfect for a watch party, then view Showgirls. You'll learn lessons such as how to pronounce names of designers, how to "thrust it", how not to keep your nails, and how to help your friend exact revenge on celebrity assaulters. Oh and also how to have fun in a swimming pool. Hard to believe this camp crap came out 30 years ago! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/29/25 Full Review Erik S The moral of Showgirls is “don’t watch Showgirls”. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/28/25 Full Review Garrett P. Such a weird movie to categorize in my brain…so many things that make this film weird but slightly fun and entertaining. The r-pe scene is incredibly uncomfortable to watch but comes out of nowhere…although you could say that about every scene in this. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/18/25 Full Review Rami A I have no idea why this was given an NC-17 rating. It's more of an R-rated movie than anything else. A messy R-rated movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/16/25 Full Review Ollie W Ludicrous, ridiculous, stupid, absurd, yet somehow entertaining, Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/13/25 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Paul Verhoeven

Director

Elizabeth Berkley Lauren

Nomi Malone

Kyle MacLachlan

Zack Carey

Gina Gershon

Cristal Connors

Glenn Plummer

James Smith

Robert Davi

Al Torres

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Showgirls

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Movie Info

Synopsis Nomi (Elizabeth Berkley) arrives in Las Vegas with only a suitcase and a dream of becoming a top showgirl. She quickly befriends Molly (Gina Ravera), who works at the high-profile Stardust Hotel, and lands a job at a seedy strip club. A chance meeting with Cristal (Gina Gershon), the Stardust's marquee dancer, and her powerful boyfriend, Zack (Kyle MacLachlan), brings Nomi one step closer to realizing her dream. But, as she ascends to the top, Nomi begins to wonder if it's all worth it.
Director
Paul Verhoeven
Producer
Alan Marshall, Charles Evans
Screenwriter
Joe Eszterhas
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., United Artists
Production Co
United Artists, Chargeurs, Carolco Pictures Inc.
Rating
NC-17
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 22, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 25, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$19.3M
Runtime
2h 11m
Sound Mix
Surround
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