Anora

Anora, a young woman from Brooklyn, working as a dancer and a sex worker, takes a chance on The Dream when she rushes into marrying the indolent son of a wealthy Russian oligarch. But when the news reaches his parents, her dream turns into a nightmare when they demand the marriage be annulled.

Sean Baker makes films about the lives of marginalized people, especially immigrants and sex workers, and they're often incredible. Tangerine, a film about a night in the life of a transgender sex worker in Hollywood–apparently filmed on IPhones–was one of my favorites of 2015. In 2017, The Florida Project—a film that garnered William DaFoe a Best Supporting Actor Nomination—about a 6-year-old girl and her sex worker mother trying to make ends meet while living in a motel outside Disney World in Orlando, was absolutely fantastic. Then in 2021, he made Red Rocket, which was a more straight-forward comedy about the hopes and dreams and failures of an adult film actor who is forced to return to his hometown in Texas after his career crashes and burns, and that was a good time too. Sean Baker’s films are often really funny, but also sad, and very relatably human. They value the goodness within people, emphasizing our common traits, wants, needs, and failings, while also looking to remove the stigma that comes with sex and sex worker in America.

In short, Sean Baker tells stories about real Americans.

When I say that, when I say “real Americans,” I don’t mean the kind of people that the Christian White Nationalists mean when they talk about “Real Americans,” by which they mean… White, ideally well-off, nominally Christian, preferably straight, definitely cis-gendered, and male, obviously, but females too, at least as long as the females acknowledge that males come first. I definitely do not mean that. I am not talking about “Real Americans.” What I mean to say is that Sean Baker tells stories about the real Americans that “Real Americans” love to spit on.

He does this while telling stories that catch you off-guard emotionally, despite the fact that you can clearly see the trouble lying ahead for his characters, as they are often depicted as barreling towards a brick wall, at least, in a narrative sense. Sean Baker tells stories that are alive with character, with joy, sadness, humor and also tragedy. These are stories of love and hope, of triumphs and disappointments, they are little stories about little people, but told with a huge heart. Admittedly, they are often told with a profane, sometimes sexy, sometimes gross, sometimes ridiculous, usually dirty, and often incredibly gaudy heart, but still… a huge one.

Now he’s back with his latest film, Anora.

Anora is not only Baker's highest grossing movie, making 33 million on just a 6 million budget, which is pretty good for small films, it was also named one of the top ten films of 2024 by the National Board of Review, as well as the American Film Institute. On top of that, it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year, receiving a 10 minute standing ovation. Standing ovations seem to mean less and less every year at Cannes, and seem to become more performative each time, as it becomes more and more known for them, but still... ten minutes ain't too shabby.

Palme d’Or means “Golden Palm.” It is awarded to the director of the film that wins Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at Cannes. In the film industry, this is the tip top, this is the best thing you can win. No matter what you or anyone else may win that season, you’re the year’s King of Movies, my friend, because you got the Palme d'Or.

So, congratulations on that.

Anora was nominated for, but didn't win, two Golden Globes for Director and Screenplay, and it also got six Oscar nominations, including best director, original screenplay, and editing, as well as lead actress for Mikey Madison, and supporting actor for Yuriy Borisov, and of course, for best picture. Will it win any of these? I'd lean towards no, just looking at the noms and the main narratives that seem to be forming in the headlines, and also knowing that the Academy is mostly made up of out-of-touch old pieces of shit and petty wannabes who generally don't like movies and barely watch any of them, and have the kind of terrible taste that is specific to L.A. in that it is mostly based on who was nicest to them one time while waiting for the valet outside of Nobu, but if Anora does win a statue or two, then in my opinion, it will be well-deserved.

We shall see.

Anora goes by Ani, never by Anora. She doesn’t like Anora, just like she doesn’t like speaking Russian. The grandchild of Russian immigrants, Ani is a sex worker living in Brighton Beach, and working in Manhattan as a stripper. Ani’s matter-of-fact about what she does, it’s just business, and she is very much a professional about it, diving right into each new encounter, quickly honing in on making the client happy, offering options, and giving them what they want, all while making sure they understand what it allowed, and how much it costs, without much chit-chat. She keeps her mind on her money, and her money on her mind, as they say. She’s pragmatic, heart doesn’t even enter into it. But while this is who Ani shows the world, underneath it all, she hides a sensitive soul.

She also vapes constantly. It’s fucking ridiculous.

Kids today…

Anyway, because Ani speaks Russian, one night at work, she is introduced to Ivan, a pencil-necked Russian rich kid, and lover of hip hop and shiny things, especially shirts and watches. The prodigal son of a Russian Oligarch, Ivan hires Ani to come see him at his home for some sex and companionship, quickly bringing her into his world of constant booze and party drugs, loud clubs, private rooms, wealthy privilege, and indulgent excess.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, when you take a skinny, rich and entitled little nerd,who uses his parents’ money mostly to buy sex and friendship, and a young woman too afraid of being vulnerable to take a chance on love, and toss them into a pile of sex, money, drugs, focused attention, and emotional intensity, all on a whirlwind week of jet-setting parties, the pair becomes enamored with each other. They're also constantly drunk and high and horny, so of course… They get married in Vegas.

It’s a lot like Pretty Woman, but much, much gaudier.

That’s when Ivan’s parents find out.

It's at that point that everything crashes and burns. His parents hear rumors that their son married an escort, and they send Toros, a local priest who keeps an eye on the family’s affairs in America for Ivan’s father, which mostly means keeping an eye on Ivan. Toros brings his brother Garnick, and also Igor, a young thug-for-hire who lives with his grandmother in Brooklyn. While it's immediately apparent that none of these guys are outright bad guys, they still have a job to do, and they need to do it, or they're going to be the ones in trouble. Their job is to let Ivan know that his parents are pissed, especially his mother–who is even scarier than his oligarch father–and they are on their way to America.

When Ivan hears this, he runs.

After that, Ani's new life of sex and drugs and money and romance becomes a chase through the wintry nighttime streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan, a tour of the less glamorous corners of NYC, basically a kind of return to the cinematic New York City of the ‘70s, as they look for Ivan. Ani is hoping to find him so that they can stand up to his parents together, and live happily ever after. Meanwhile, Toros is in a desperate race to try to find Ivan and get his and Ani’s marriage annulled, all before Ivan's parents land in America at noon the next day, or risk taking the blame for the whole debacle.

That, and the resulting fall-out, is the whole story. It’s fantastic.

Anora has a headlong and rollicking energy.

It feels at once that it is taking place in both a fantasy and also the real world, albeit an insular world on the fringe. At times both hilarious and heartbreaking, often in the same scene, this is a film of pure movie magic, one that will keep you hoping and rooting for Ani (and also Igor), despite being constantly aware of the sorrow that inevitably lies ahead. I mean, you know that Ivan is a fuck up and a huge loser and a giant man-baby from the very first moment you see him, and that marrying him is the worst fucking idea ever, and that doing so will be nothing but a complete disaster for Ani, emotionally, financially, and possibly even physically too, maybe even mortally, and Ani seems to know this too, but still… you hope, just like Ani does, that maybe this time it’ll work out? This is a romantic fool's hope, obviously, but still, you hope, and you understand why Ani hopes too.

You understand it because Baker draws completely relatable and human characters, despite their specific jobs and situations. Part of how he does this is through casting. He and his partner/producer/spouse Samantha Quan have an incredible eye for finding the right people for a role, like Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in Tangerine, or Brooklyn Prince and Bria Vinaitein in Florida Project, or Simon Rex in Red Rocket, but Mikey Madison is truly phenomenal here as Ani. Emotionally-wraught, incredibly assured and confident, incredibly vulnerable, it's a big and very brave performance. Ani is a huge presence in a tiny pale little body, but it's not a burlesqued performance at all, it's not a caricature, Madison puts all of Ani out there on display, and it seems so natural the whole time, despite the crazy situation. It's really fantastic work.

On top of that, the incredible chemistry between her and Yuriy Borisov's quiet thug-for-hire Igor is apparent from the very first moment. Great stuff. They were both surprisingly great.

Since Sean Baker's films are often about the lives of marginalized people, they are often about class too. That is clear here in Anora, as the main conflict mostly takes place between people who are all powerless before the whims of the wealthy and entitled, all of their lives easily upended by the whims of the powerful, all of them simply trying to find happiness and security and safety beneath the heel of those who willingly use them and discard them as they please. Because of this, because our main characters are all just trying to make it through the day and maybe have a little bit for themselves at the end of it, it was really nice to see a real, believable connection form between some of them, an unspoken alliance growing out of their recognition of their shared place in the world, even if they don’t realize it’s happening as it does. I loved that.

So, while Anora ultimately feels like the most produced, the most Hollywood slick of all Sean Baker's films, it still has his heart and his empathy with those the world considers wretched. It's still beautiful and sad and funny, a movie that will touch you with its raw and sincere emotions, all while also being a great and entertaining time at the movies.

Anora is a film about daring to dream, even when you know better. It’s a film about betting big, and losing. Kind of. But still hoping for better, and finding that hope in each other. Maybe. In the end, it’s a film about how it's a rough world out there, but you keep trying, because after all, who knows?

Tomorrow's a new day, right?