Pamela Anderson delivers a career-topping performance as Shelley an aging Vegas showgirl, whose show, Razzle Dazzle, is closing, bringing her thirty-year career to a grinding stop.

Directed by Gia Coppola whose use of shallow focus lenses keeps the story on Shelley at all times, the tale looks honestly at aging and beauty in not only Sin City, but in the world at large, and Anderson delivers like never before, leaving it all on the screen in what is an Oscar-worthy performance.

As she struggles to stay optimistic, a very self-focused Shelley must try to find her own way, she chides her younger, fellow dancers, Jodie (Kiernan Shipka) and Marianne (Brenda Song) against taking less-than-savoury roles. She argues there’s an art, a tradition to their show, though even her almost estranged daughter, Hannah (Billie Lourd), doesn’t see the point in it.

As she navigates the last few shows, struggling with wardrobe malfunctions, growing consternation between the cast, and an unsure future, she bounces between the advice of her gambling-addicted, cocktail waitress best friend, Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis) and trying interactions with the show’s stage manager, Eddie (Dave Bautista).

Anderson shines as she never has before with an honesty that shines through in every moment she is on-screen. A heartbreaking and poignant tale of a woman who looks for more in her life than she was given, and doesn’t know how to take or claim it for her own.

Surrounding Anderson with some powerhouse actors, who also bring their a-game elevates everything on screen. It’s occasionally heartbreaking, always poignant, and it’s an unflinching look at aging and an industry that chews up these women and spits them out to be forgotten.

Shot beautifully and eschewing the images of Vegas one would expect to see, Coppola delivers a powerful film that doesn’t pull its punches and whose actors are nothing short of stunning.

The Oscar buzz for Anderson is real, and it’s deserved.

The Last Showgirl screens Sunday and Friday at the festival.