Magic Mike’s Last Dance completes the trilogy of Magic Mike (2012) and Magic Mike XXL (2015). The first two installments featured storylines about Magic Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) and the Kings of Tampa, his backup dancers. Magic Mike’s Last Dance starts with the closing of Mike’s furniture store after a failed business deal. Mike, now in his forties, becomes a bartender for a catering company in Miami.
Mike works at a fundraiser hosted by Maxandra “Max” Mendoza (Salma Hayek). Max’s lawyer, Kim (Caitlin Gerard), recognizes Mike. Kim told Max about Mike. After the event, Max requests a private meeting with Mike. Max is going through a divorce from her husband, Roger Rattigan (Alan Cox). When Mike and Max are alone, she asks him how much for a lap dance. He declines, but Max pushes. So Mike says $60,000. Max says she will pay $6,000, and there will be no intimacy afterward. However, Max and Mike do end up sleeping together.
Mike doesn’t accept the $6,000. However, he does agree to travel to London for a month with Max but also refuses her offer to pay him $60,000. He says that he will go as her boyfriend. Unfortunately, the differences in Max’s socialite background and Mike’s working-class background cause some issues in their budding relationship.
Social and economic inequality is one of the themes pushed throughout the movie. Max’s daughter, Zadie Rattigan (Jemelia George), is introduced as a narrator to discuss the significance of dancing and the reality of differing socio-economic backgrounds. Max espouses the themes of feminism and women’s liberation.
When Mike and Max arrive in London, he learns that Max’s husband, Roger, gave her the Rattigan Theatre as part of their divorce settlement. Max tells Mike she has suspended the current show, Isabel Ascende, for a month and wants him to produce a dance program. Mike agrees, and they start auditioning dancers. They hire an actress from Isabel Ascende, including elements of that show in the new one.
Personally, Mike reacts to feeling out of place in Max’s social circle, and Max responds by striking out at Mike.
Mike and Max make alterations to the theatre. The City of Westminster objects, so Mike and Max focus on a female board member to be approved. Then, they disagree about the ending of the show. Max wants a personalized story with a happy ending and wants Mike to dance. In the meantime, the city closes the show again, and Max realizes Roger is behind it. He tells her that she agreed not to besmirch his family name. Max gives up and tells Mike to go home. However, Mike gets the keys from Max’s butler, Victor (Ayub Khan-Din) and continues rehearsals. The show becomes an invitation-only event with Zadie contacting her mother’s friends, including Roger. Victor and Zadie bring Max to the show.
Like Isabel Ascende, the show starts with the main character choosing between marrying a rich man or a loving, poor man. So, the character talks to a unicorn, her imaginary childhood friend. Then, the dancers appear, and the dances become more daring as the show progresses. Eventually, Victor escorts Zadie out of the theatre before three dancers do lap dances for three senior audience members. Then, Mike dances with a professional partner that tells Mike and Max stories. After the show, Mike and Max kiss, and he say he loves her.
