Anora, a sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.
Winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival, American Director Sean Baker continues his exploration of the American Dream through the eyes of sex workers in his latest film, Anora. We follow Ani (Mikey Madison, a 20-something exotic dancer working in a high-priced Manhattan strip club. She is eventually introduced to an heir of a Russian Oligarch, Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn). What starts off as a transactional relationship, slowly evolves into some more as the pair decide to have a shotgun wedding in Vegas. This Cinderella story turns into a nightmare as his parents eventually find out, leading to destruction and chaos.
Right off the bat we are plunged into the world of a New York sex worker. Drizzled in neon lights, bare flesh, and cocaine, we follow Ani in her day to day life. She flirts with her customers, but is no-nonsense with everyone else. After the job is done, she staggers home, exhausted just to get a few hours of shuteye, then repeats. It is a repetitive life that doesn’t have a lot of upsides outside of the upfront cash. So when she meets Ivan, whose life is all about partying, cocaine, and video games, it’s hard for her not to become infatuated with his lifestyle. And for Ivan, it is hard for him not to become infatuated by her looks and sex. The offbeat couple have chemistry, but you know exactly where their relationship is going. The honeymoon phase ends the moment when his family finds out and it is like a punch in the gut.
Writer and Director Sean Baker, starts off Anora as a delirious romantic comedy about a sex worker getting a Cinderella story. It is filled with glitz, glamor, romance, sex, and cocaine, and you just can’t help but cheer for this couple. However, all of this glamor is pulled out from under you as his family finds out. The confrontation is initially comedic mayhem as characters are just yelling and throwing stuff at each other, but slowly turns into heartbreak as Ivan flees the scene leaving Ani alone with his babysitters and they have to search for him. Heavily influenced by Martin Scorese’s, After Hours, we follow the troops search for Ivan across Manhattan. It is as delirious as the first half, but now it is delirious with sorrow.
As chaotic as Anora is on the surface, there is a tragic tale on the American Dream. Anora dives into themes such as wealth inequality, the treatment of sex workers, and is there still an American Dream. These are themes that Baker has tackled before, but this is the most sympathetic and poignant exploration to date.
Mikey Madison gives a star-making performance as Ani. She masterfully portrays this complicated heroine as she is vulnerable, defiant, sympathetic, and fierce. She is powerful and captivating and do not sleep on her at this year’s Academy Awards. While Mark Eidelstein equally gives a good performance as the pathetic manchild that is Ivan. He perfectly encapsulates the immaturity of his character that is both sad and frustrating. While for Ivan’s babysitters, Yuriy Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan, and Karren Karagulian, their performances were the most surprising. On the surface, they seem like stereotypical Eastern European thugs, but they bring a surprising amount of empathy and emotional nuance to their performances.
Overall, Anora is one of the best films of the year. The film is as hilarious and heartwarming as it is heartbreaking. This is Sean Baker’s strongest film to date, as well his most audience friendly. Don’t let its subject matter scare you away from this amazing film.
My Rating: A
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