Writer-director Sean Baker is known for taking on films involving sex work, whether it’s a subtle but powerful supporting background element (The Florida Project) or directly linked to the main character (Red Rocket). Now, he brings audiences an entertaining and empathetic perspective from this community with Anora. Winner of the 2024 Palme d’Or, Anora subverts negative stereotypes of sex work to portray a complex woman amid a complex relationship.
When Anora (Mikey Madison), a stripper who goes by Ani, meets Ivan (Mark Eidelstein), the son of an obscenely wealthy Russian family, she turns her focus to her new client and begins working exclusively for him. As their intimacy becomes more personal, Ivan decides he wants to stay with her in America after his parents demand he return home to Russia. Ani’s Cinderella vision of herself comes true when she agrees to marry Ivan, propelling his parents into fury as they send their henchmen to get their marriage annulled.
Anora is a strong-willed woman with a take-no-shit attitude. She radiates intense, confident femininity only possible through Mikey Madison’s phenomenal performance, but with a delicacy that is synonymous with emotional intricacy. This duality is pronounced as her personality flourishes, especially once finding herself in trouble due to Ivan’s overlooked immaturity. At first charmed by his boyish innocence, she begins suffering the second-hand repercussions of his actions and realizes what’s in her own best interest.
Her personal growth is perfectly matched by the tone of the film. Ivan is exactly as we’d imagine if an inexperienced hormonal teenage boy had the money to hire an escort, and Ani amusingly fills the role. But eventually, the carefree enjoyment between Ani and Ivan shatters into sentiments of self-preservation against the unavoidable. At this point, she’s strewn into the trio of Russian henchmen whose goon behavior has a perfect comedic aura as a product of their dead-seriousness. A good portion of the film focuses on the four of them and Ani’s developing opinion on whether to comply with their demands.
At one of the most climactic, confrontational moments near the end, the entirety of Anora’s experience culminates into a dilemma that wants us to unbury the layers of both the character and the film itself. As if all of Anora’s assuredness is suddenly frozen in time, it’s a moment which we can implicitly envision her weighing every decision and every outcome of what to do next. Admittedly, not many other scenes prior to this attain such nuance, instead feeling relatively straightforward in mood and intention, but it makes for a thoughtful conclusion. We’re left with an ending open to interpretation, either as if to demand or to invite us to reflect on her turbulent emotional journey, necessary for reaching our own satisfying conclusion.
4.5/5 Stars