If You Can’t Stop Listening To The New Taylor Swift Album, You’ll Want To Watch These 15 Films With Showgirls Vibes

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Anora, which took home Best Picture and garnered its star Mikey Madison Best Actress at the Oscars in 2025, is definitely full of enough glitter to rival The Life of a Showgirl. It tells the story of Ani, a sex worker who starts dreaming of a new life when she begins a romance with the son of a Russian oligarch. This film dives deep into the psyche of a true showgirl — Ani is nothing if not a star — and also explores how painful this life can be behind the scenes, especially when the lines start to blur between performance and reality.

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In this film, Pamela Anderson stars as a Vegas showgirl named Shelly who is forced to face an unknown future when the show she's starred in for over 30 years closes. The movie explores what it means to confront reality and examine the past after you've spent your whole life playing a role for a crowd. Shelly would probably enjoy the Taylor Swift song Nothing New more than any song The Life of a Showgirl, but she'd definitely appreciate all the newfound attention being given to showgirls thanks to this album.

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This movie follows a woman named Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley), who dreams of making it as a showgirl and starts working as a stripper in Las Vegas. The movie made waves for a whole lot of nudity and explicit content when it came out, so be warned — then again, that also seems to fit the Life of a Showgirl spirit, as the album is Taylor Swift's most adult content-heavy by a mile.

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While not a movie strictly about showgirls, The Great Gatsby certainly has The Life of a Showgirl vibes. It follows Jay Gatsby, a mysterious figure who throws flashy parties in order to attract the attention of his longtime love Daisy, who is married to a wealthy old-money Long Island stalwart. It's not hard to imagine Daisy listening to Wi$h Li$t as she considers leaving her life for an equally lavish yet more romantic life with Gatsby, or Eldest Daughter as she hopes her baby girl will be a "beautiful little fool." Plus, the costumes and vibes, courtesy of Baz Luhrmann, are definitely Life of a Showgirl-core.

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Swift's The Fate of Ophelia references one of the main female characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet, but doesn't go too deep into her actual story, which is one of mental illness and tragic complexity. Neither does Hamlet, so it's worth diving a bit deeper into Ophelia's psyche with this film, which explores Ophelia's side of the story. (Ironically the real Ophelia would probably love every one of Swift's albums except for The Life of a Showgirl, and her tortured love for Hamlet feels much more Cruel Summer than The Fate of Ophelia). Anyhow, Ophelia's tragic fate actually probably is more related to the fact that she was a woman dealing with incredible tragedy in an oppressive time rather than the fact that she wasn't saved by a football player, but that's another story. 

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Long before she starred as the subject of one of Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl bangers, the real Elizabeth Taylor won hearts all over the world as the star of a Cleopatra biopic in 1963. She dazzled as the Egyptian queen herself, who was also a kind of showgirl, only on the diplomatic stage. 

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Marilyn Monroe is possibly the most classic showgirl of all time, so of course she has to make this list. Monroe starred in a ton of amazing movies during her sadly short life, but she's particularly radiant in Some Like It Hot, which tells the story of two men who, in order to escape a dangerous gang, disguise themselves as women and board a train to Miami. There, they meet Sugar (Monroe), a beautiful musician who they both fall for and compete over. 

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Marilyn Monroe is so iconic she had to appear on here twice. In this movie, she plays a showgirl who catches the attention of a prince (Laurence Olivier) on a diplomatic mission to the fictional country of Carpathia. 

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Whoopi Goldberg plays a showgirl who disguises herself as a nun in order to escape her gangster boyfriend in this musical extravaganza. When she takes over the convent's choir and starts garnering international attention, plenty of glittery hijinks ensue. 

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This movie dives deep into the debauchery and wildness that defined one of the most historic times in show business — Hollywood in the 1920s, when sound films were first starting to replace silent ones. It stars Margot Robbie as a troubled rising star and features a huge ensemble cast of characters, and it's not hard to imagine Robbie's character blasting CANCELLED! as she heads out for yet another scandalous night on the town.

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In this movie, Nicole Kidman plays a showgirl who embarks on an ill-fated romance with a depressed traveling writer (who would probably relate more to The Tortured Poets Department than The Life of a Showgirl, honestly). Unfortunately, she's already been promised to a Duke in exchange for funding for her production, which feels very Father Figure-esque. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, it's a lavish, glittery window into the bohemian, creative life.

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Dreamgirls is one of the best movies ever to take viewers behind the scenes of the showgirl's life. Plus its stacked cast (Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson, and Jamie Foxx!) gives it an undeniable shine, and the songs, of course, are next level. The movie, which is based on a Broadway show, tells the story of a girl group called the Dreamettes, and chronicles their rise into a major pop group and the drama and chaos that ensues. 

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Cher and Christina Aguilera dazzle in this movie, which follows a waitress from Iowa with big dreams of bright lights. After moving to LA, she joins a burlesque club and winds up finding herself — and a lot of romantic drama along the way. It's got a lot of romance, sparkle, and rivalry between women, which is definitely very The Life of a Showgirl. This was also Aguilera's first movie performance, and it's not hard to imagine Swift pulling something like that soon, especially with all the references to movie stars that Life of a Showgirl has. Of course, Swift is no stranger to the big screen (and an Eras tour documentary is coming to Disney+ soon, if you hadn't heard).

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A blonde starlet and a black-haired starlet are rivals in Chicago, an iconic movie musical that follows two showgirls in the 1920s who both wind up in prison. They both wind up being defended by the same famous lawyer, and media circus that ensues winds up making them both even more famous, showing that celebrity has really always worked the same way. It's not hard to imagine both of these characters also really, really enjoying the songs CANCELLED! and Actually Romantic.

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While the rollout and visuals for The Life of a Showgirl are very much rooted in traditional Vegas showgirl culture, the truth is, The Life of a Showgirl has more Disney princess energy than most of these movies. Here, Swift sings mostly about her happy ending with Travis Kelce — and also getting attacked by evil stepsisters in the form of Hollywood critics and other musicians — but ultimately, TLOAS is a love story through and through, and she said yes.