Anora is a whirlwind, screwball comedy of errors about an exotic dancer who is plucked out of the club by the son of a Russian oligarch who treats her to a life of luxury and carefree debauchery. It’s the latest feature film from writer-director Sean Baker who has made a name for himself producing stories about sex work, poverty, and life on the fringes in America with films like The Florida Project and Tangerine. Anora garnered critical acclaim earlier this year when it won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. This in addition to high praise for Mikey Madison’s performance drummed up considerable hype leading to its theatrical release in October. As of writing, Anora is Baker’s most profitable film to date.

Baker was enamored by the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn. He was interested in telling a story set in this thriving Russian-American community and worked with his longtime muse, Karren Karagulian to develop the plot of Anora. Karagulian’s wife, who makes a brief appearance in the film, is Russian-American and offered insights based on some of the more outlandish stories she’s heard. After wrapping on Red Rocket, the hook for Anora started to take shape for the pair and thus the idea of a sex worker marrying into a wealthy Russian family was formed. It was loosely based on a story from a friend of Baker’s about a Russian newlywed who was kidnapped and used as collateral by the mob. Karagulian was cast as Toros, the handler responsible for Vanya, while he studies in America. He spends much of the film in damage control mode after Ivan marries Ani, humiliating his wealthy family in the process. 

Andrea Werhun is a former exotic dancer and escort who’s 2018 memoir A Modern Whore was a source of inspiration behind Anora. Werhun was hired as a creative consultant on the film, giving the project more authenticity in its details and depiction of sex work. Madison, who plays the titular Anora, spent months researching, visiting strip clubs, and interviewing sex workers to gain more perspective on the frequently contemned profession. Additionally, she performed all of her own stunts after rigorously training in the art of exotic dancing. All of this is to say that although I personally do not have experience in this world, Baker and Madison went through great lengths to treat this story with the compassion and empathy it deserves rather than simply focusing on this line of work for the sake of salacious shock value. 

Anora was shot on 35 mm film with old Lomo lenses, giving it a distinctly 70’s look. Stylistically, Baker and cinematographer, Drew Daniels, wanted to capture the feeling of this era of filmmaking. There’s so much depth to each shot, particularly in how each of the main cast members appear on screen. Giving the film a heightened sense of reality and a dreamlike quality. Each segment is also approached differently based on the current tone. The bright vibrancy of the Las Vegas love affair for example looks significantly different than the icy isolation of Coney Island in the dead of winter. The bold risks in form and content makes Anora stand out amongst the crowded field of flat, digitally shot, mush that plagues many big studio releases. 

We meet Ani at her place of employment, a high end strip club in Manhattan called “Headquarters.” Her boss assigns her to a particularly rich patron named Vanya, the young and reckless son of a Russian oligarch. Ani is the only dancer who can speak a bit of Russian so Vanya becomes instantly infatuated with her. He asks if she ever works outside of the club and Ani jumps at the opportunity to keep him as a client. He’s got more money than sense so this should be easy enough. However, after several dates, Vanya makes a proposition. For $15k, he wants Ani to be his exclusive girlfriend for the week. She accompanies Vanya and his entourage as they bounce from one exclusive nightclub to the next, eventually going on an impromptu trip to Las Vegas. 

At the end of their visit, Vanya reveals his parents are threatening to send him back to Russia to work at his dad’s company if he cannot get his act together. To him, America is a theme park of endless pursuits in pleasure. All of the drugs and alcohol he could ever want, constant attention from women who would otherwise be out of his league, and no one to tell him no. Getting cut off from that stream of cash and being forced to work for his own keep is the worst case scenario for this wannabe playboy. So Vanya poses another question to Ani. “Will you marry me?” 

Ani disregards this ask as meaningless pillowtalk from a boy looking for a green card. Vanya assures her that his love is genuine and part of his fear of returning to Russia is never getting to see her again. Ani agrees on one condition: a diamond ring, 3 carats. The two rush out to a chapel on the Strip, committing their love for one another, all authorized by the state of Nevada. But rumors spread in Russian media that Vanya has married his escort, prompting his parents to fly to the states to retrieve their son. Toros, Vanya’s American handler, is tasked with investigating this rumor and ensuring he is packed and ready to return to Russia with them. Toros’ henchmen, Garnick and Igor, are sent to the Brooklyn mansion to hold Vanya and Ani captive until he can get there. When they arrive, Vanya slips out of their grasp, fleeing the scene without waiting for Ani. She’s left to fend off the goons herself in a slapstick hostage situation gone terribly wrong.

This is one of the best sequences of the year. Energizing, frightening, and hysterical all at once. Ani frantically attempts to make a getaway but is thwarted by Igor and Garnick at every step. In a movie full of them, this scene probably has the highest concentration of F bombs as Ani fights back against her attackers with every insult in her arsenal. It’s a flurry of smashed lamps, shattered glass coffee tables, candelabras used as weapons, and makeshift restraints. Ani gets in a few licks herself, kicking Garnick square in the nose, breaking it to his surprise. Up until the credits roll, Garnick is still reeling from this assault. She is not one to mess with. Igor finally grabs hold of Ani, only for her to take a bite out of his shoulder. With no other options, Igor ties her up using the nearby landline cord, preventing any further damage. 

Baker drives the excitement of this scene with expert blocking that keeps the struggle moving, there’s never a dull moment. Each beat pushes the fight into further absurdity, balancing Ani’s surprising strength with Igor’s hesitation to actually harm her. The comedy is born from this seemingly unassuming young woman actually holding her own against two established mafia members. Madison and Borisov, Igor, performed their own stunts here which only adds to the dynamism and realistic reactions from the pair. To say nothing of their fiery onscreen chemistry. On the second watch, I wasn’t simply reacting to the humor of the situation, pressing myself to view the scene with a bit more distance. What is really impressive is how Baker took a scene that on the surface is a nightmare scenario for Ani. Her husband has abandoned her, strange men are holding her against her will, and a mysterious third party berates her over the phone demanding that she gets a divorce. This should not be funny. But it is. It works because Ani’s over the top aggression and Igor’s sensitivity towards her safety are at odds with the audience’s perception of these characters. The comedy comes from this subversion of expectations. It also helps that Vache Tovmasyan who plays Garnick has adept comedic timing and fits the mold of bumbling henchmen so well. 

When Toros finally shows up, he’s furious that Garnick and Igor not only let Vanya escape, but they have roughed up Ani and the mansion in the process. He assures Ani that if she helps them find Vanya and agrees to the annulment, she will be compensated for her efforts. It’s at this point, the movie abandons its romantic comedy premise entirely and slips firmly into a wild goose chase caper. The four form an unlikely team who set out into the city to retrieve Vanya once and for all. 

Mikey Madison is simply spellbinding as Anora. This star making performance is worthy of the admiration and critical acclaim she’s already received. Madison commands the audience’s attention any time she is on screen, which is the vast majority of the film, could not take my eyes off of her. Baker’s characterization and screenplay are strong in their own right, but Madison elevates it to a level that seems to even surprise him. She’s fearless in her approach, all stemming from her decision to fully immerse herself in the world of sex work. There’s an unabashed level of confidence she exudes whether she’s twirling around a pole, bringing down the house with her fury, or weeping into the arms of a lover. She leaves it all on the screen. There’s also layers to this performance. A tenderness just under the surface of her brash, Brooklyn exterior. Madison drifts seamlessly from empowered seductress to lonely and frightened young woman, closing out the movie as a shrieking force to be reckoned with. I never stopped being on her side and had a blast watching her humiliate those who wronged her. 

From the very start of the film, we know Ani has a life perspective that is filtered entirely through her sexuality. Aside from her best friend and coworker Lulu, she does not have any close relationships and certainly nothing in the way of romance. She lives with her grating and demanding sister, her mother is off in Miami with a second husband, and there’s no father mentioned at all. So it comes as no surprise when she is easily swooned by Vanya’s flattery, attention, and wealth. As far as the audience can tell, he is the first man to show interest in her beyond sex. However, the relationship is still transactional. Ani is staying at his home, because Vanya is paying for her to be there. The power imbalance inherent to this relationship prevents it from ever truly blossoming into something earnest. 

Vanya is also a petulant 21 year old who refuses to grow up. To call him a man, nevermind husband, is laughable because of his immaturity and self serving antics. He doesn’t work or have any responsibilities, spending most of his day gaming and the rest of the evening going out and getting high. His loyalty and allegiance towards Ani is dependent entirely on their sexual relationship and how he uses her as a status symbol. It is always about him, his pleasure, and avoiding personal obligations to his family. At no point does it genuinely seem like Vanya takes Ani’s feelings into consideration. This reaches its logical endpoint when Vanya disappears on a bender, leaving Ani behind to fight with his family’s hired help. When Ani finally finds him in a private room at Headquarters, Vanya is wasted, incoherent, and hooking up with her former workplace rival. His selfishness knows no bounds. When confronted on why he left her behind, Vanya throws a tantrum. While not consciously, he believes he should be allowed to inflict as much damage as possible, but never take ownership for his actions. Anyone looking for accountability is simply hassling him for no good reason. And god forbid anybody try to stop the party. 

When it’s all said and done, Ani is granted one final night in Vanya’s mansion to collect her belongings and return home. She is joined by Igor who was the only individual to defend Ani in the face of Vanya and his family’s scrutiny. Ani is still skeptical of his motives though. What is he hoping to get out of being kind to her? The answer, likely nothing. It’s clear that somewhere during the insanity of the last 24 hours, he’s developed feelings for her, but has too much respect to pile that on, on top of everything else. She’s been through enough. He’s the first character, the first man in the entire film, to not make any demands of her. Not reducing Ani to her body, her class, or her career. Igor is enamored with Ani for who she is, not in spite of it. 

The following morning, Igor drops Ani off at her house. They exchange a pained glance as the snow accumulates on the car windows. Dead silent except for the steady rhythm of windshield wipers against glass. Igor pulls a ring out of his pocket, Ani’s ring. The 3 carat one that Toros snatched from her earlier. An unconventional proposal, but nevertheless a confirmation of his love for her. Ani reciprocates his feelings in the only way she knows how. She straddles Igor in the front seat of the car and the two share a kiss. Moments in, Ani breaks down and cries. A soft wail of defeat after being chewed up and spit out. Igor holds her tightly as the film fades to black, her tears muffled, and the scrapping of windshield wipers continues as the credits roll. 

Baker pulls the rug out from under the audience in this final moment. Everything building up to this scene has been all fun and games, only for it to come crashing down on Ani in the end. This about face at the last minute, makes you question why any of this was ever funny in the first place. Are we complicit in ridiculing Ani for assuming this was going to turn out any other way? Did we forget that underneath her sultry confidence and potty mouth, there’s a 23 year old woman who’s been exploited? The film’s over the top antics end up having real consequences for everyone involved, but no one is more affected than her.

However it’s never a question of “how could she be so stupid?” Rather the question we’re left with is, “How could he be so callous?” One person’s life changing, Cinderella fantasy is another’s two week long, thrilling fling. Vanya’s immaturity and selfishness prevents him from seeing the situation through Ani’s eyes. Because of his incredible wealth and privilege, he doesn’t understand that the real heartbreak is not because she loved him deeply. No. It was her chance to escape. To move up in the world and be free of the casual cruelty she’s accepted as the default. The connective tissue across all of Baker’s films is a critique of the American dream. He’s not simply saying that the dream is dead, but that it has changed. People in Ani’s position can work hard every day of their lives and end up nowhere near Vanya’s affluence. Thus the dream has changed. It is about luck. Lucking into favorable conditions and doing everything in your power to hold onto that new status. It is a source of economic anxiety for a country where the playing field has only grown more unequal as the richest among us continue to increase their bottom lines, while the rest of us scrap by. 

Anora is a breath of fresh air in an industry determined to sustain itself on reboots, genre fare, and prestige biopics alone. A comedy for adults about “real people” that doesn’t pander with references or drown out its emotional core with a detached, ironic tone. Our culture is currently allergic to sincerity in art. Facing a barrage of endless winking to the camera, callbacks to other popular franchises, and the incentive to memeify anything with the potential to make your film go viral. It’s cynical, it’s anti-art, and it’s rampant. Baker forgoes the usual gimmicks to tell a story that is honest, raw, and relevant. 

He excels at this kind of storytelling and has the track record to prove it. He’s not interested in high stakes spectacle or musings on the great men of the world. Instead, he draws attention to people on the fringes, someone you could walk by on the sidewalk and never think twice about, or worse, look down upon. He elevates those people’s lives to be worthy of consideration. To spend two and a half hours with someone we may never have the opportunity to know. 

Some have criticized Baker’s style as voyeuristic or even flat out exploitative. As a reflexive reaction, this makes sense. He doesn’t sugar coat his characters or ascribe any nobility to life in poverty. This is at odds with other films that cover similar topics and kinds of characters. Most award contenders about poverty are trauma dramas that exist only to prod at the guilt of the audience and are more concerned with assuaging their feelings than telling a compelling story about unlikely heroes. The characters Baker is interested in are complicated. They don’t always make the best decisions or react appropriately to their situations. They are deeply flawed individuals who lie, manipulate, steal, and use drugs to cope. In other words, they are just as human as you or I. 

I was completely absorbed by the fantastical beauty of this Brooklyn fairy tale. Anora swept me off my feet and carried me all the way to the altar. I laughed so hard my sides hurt, I wept as the credits rolled, and relived each twist and turn of the story the whole way home. This is what it’s all about.