Written and directed by Sean Baker, Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively 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. Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Yuriy Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan, Ivy Wolk and Luna Sofía Miranda.
Diving straight in, Anora is Sean Baker’s best film to date, by a long shot. It takes all of those themes which are thread throughout his filmography: sex work, love, self-esteem and mental health and weaves them into the perfect tapestry. There are very few films that can build up such a level of hype and live up to that when you finally get to see it, but Anora is one of them. In no small part due to the fact that Mikey Madison is exceptional, and it will be hard not to leave this film without having become completely fascinated by her.
Madison achieves with this performance what every actress yearns for, the role that completely changes the landscape of their whole career. There will forever be Mikey Madison pre and post Anora because, if the academy doesn’t disappointingly shy away from the risqué roots of this film and do the right thing, she’ll become (at the very least) Oscar-nominated Mikey Madison. It’s difficult to put into words what makes this performance so remarkable because it’s intrinsically linked to this boisterous, unstoppable and untraditionally charming personality that Madison creates for Ani, which needs to be seen.
She’s the heart and soul of the film, everything revolves around her and rightly so because both the character and the performance are fantastic. Her sense of humour is certainly a huge part of Anora as she’s unbeatably feisty but what takes the portrayal to another level is how there’s always an emotional layer in the background. She lets us see the intricacies to Anora’s mentality, the insecurities and survivor qualities that hide behind her decisions. There’s also a lingering sadness to this story which adds to its compelling nature. Something that has a wonderful crescendo in the finale, a quiet moment that perfectly captures Anora and her relationship to sex, men and self-worth.
Interestingly, it’s a decision that some might not agree with, that Anora could have been closed out a little earlier with a bigger bang but it feels like Sean Baker made the more meaningful choice. Especially when the film’s coming in at almost a hundred and forty minutes, but Baker uses his runtime well throughout. A huge portion is dedicated to simply establishing the premise of this story, creating this whirlwind, ill-fated transactional turned genuine romance between Anora and Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn). Which many filmmakers might not have been able to pull off but the amount of personality, energy and vibrancy emanating from the film means that it’s actually surprisingly easy.
It lifts the film to these euphoric heights so that it can then descend a chaos of stress and conflict which is outrageously satisfying to watch. Not only does it create something fantastically entertaining, along the way it asks questions about sex work, consent and the line between self-defence and assault. Baker is continuing the efforts of his previous films and adding new perspective to the life of sex-workers and it’s exceptionally well done in Anora. To balance those poignant themes with something that’s hilarious and wild, is impressive.
Not to mention that each of those qualities are so effortlessly blended into Baker’s directorial style and Drew Daniels’ cinematography. The aesthetic has such a rich, vivid quality, the colouring is superb and it’s absolutely one to be seen on the big screen. Having that visual gives everything a heightened intensity, which is so intriguingly matched by how Baker’s writing is disarmingly funny yet highly dramatic. A strong part of that is the character of Igor, played endearingly and excellently by Yuriy Borisov, who is an unexpected highlight of the whole film. The honesty and wholesomeness that he brings to such a chaotic situation hits brilliant comedic notes.
You could spend a very long time delving into the cast of Anora because it is arguably one of the best ensembles in cinema. Mark Eydelshteyn portrays Ivan’s entitlement and childish nature to perfection. The unrelenting anger from Karren Karagulian is just ridiculously enjoyable. Vache Tovmasyan blends bodyguard with big teddy bear, he’s aggressive yet clumsy. That’s only to name a few but every character in the ragtag bunch that they bring through this manic marathon has something to add, there’s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to personality.
Also, it has to be added that the song choices in Anora work ridiculously well. It would be very unlikely to predict that a film could create its biggest needle drop, in such a crucial scene, with a hugely modern style, using Take That’s Greatest Day. Not to mention dropping t.A.T.u.’s All The Things She Said which anyone who grew up in the 2000’s will enjoy.
There’s little that can be said at this point that probably hasn’t already been said twenty times about Anora because it is every bit as brilliant as the hype would lead you to believe. Undeniably one of the best films of 2024 and it will absolutely live on in cult status. It’s ridiculously fun, hilarious, intense and is led by a truly magnificent performance from Mikey Madison. Sean Baker styled this one to the nines, the direction is every bit as impressive as the story and the performances, it’s one not to be missed.
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