written by: Sean Baker
produced by: Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker
directed by: Sean Baker
rated: R (for strong sexual content throughout, graphic nudity, pervasive language, and drug use)
runtime: 139 min.
U.S. release date: October 18, 2024
Each film in Sean Baker’s potent and absorbing filmography defies a fair summarization. Sure, many of his films follow sex workers, but their goal is to destigmatize and illuminate them in a way in which we see their humanity. Maybe, just maybe, someone who works as a stripper or as an escort, or acts in porn, isn’t all that different from you and me. Indeed, Baker has developed an unexpectedly astute penchant for portraying the complexities of people we would normally, and sometimes easily dismiss, summing them up upon our first introduction. For his eighth narrative feature, the American writer/director offers the rom-com dramedy “Anora,” which could be described as “Pretty Woman” and “Uncut Gems” if you ground them down and snorted them up and let the next 2 hours and 19 minutes play while working off a bender. However, like all his films, there’s always much more going on.
When we meet Anora – or Ani (Mikey Madison) as she prefers to be called – she works as a lap-dancing stripper seven nights a week at a high-end strip club in Manhattan called HQ. The 23-year-old knows how to flash a smile and move her body, but more importantly, say the right words to persuade customers to spend money they didn’t intend to. The fantasy fulfillment she provides for others ends when she leaves her job and returns to the small Brighton Beach house she shares with her sister. Ani doesn’t necessarily have a specific dream but would like to move beyond her current situation.
One night, her boss selects her to entertain a particular client, primarily because she speaks Russian. Her situation will dramatically change after she meets Ivan — or Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), which he uses interchangeably — a 21-year-old Russian man-child residing in his father’s cocaine mansion on the edge of Brooklyn. The truth is, Ani only knows enough Russian to get by, thanks to her Russian grandmother, who never learned English. While she is, first and foremost, 100% Brooklyn, she can still comprehend Russian enough to follow along. The inebriated Vanya is already attracted to Ani, but hearing her iffy Russian accent makes her even more endearing to him. She knows her accent isn’t that great, and the fact that she knows this makes her look more attractive to Vanya.
While Vanya’s opulent and indulgent lifestyle blows away Ani, the pair start to fall for each other. After a couple of business transactions involving lap dances and sex, Vanya talks Ani into staying with him for a week. She agrees to a fee of $15,000. There’s more going on under this agreement than maybe even they know. Sure, Ani is going to have a blast for a week, living the high life (literally and figuratively), but there’s an indication that maybe both of them are sensing their connection is more than just sex and partying. Yet, this is foreign ground, and neither of them knows how to acknowledge it, nor will they slow down to even try.
Their week of debauchery culminates in a quick trip to Las Vegas, which leads to an impromptu wedding for Ani and Vanya. While Vanya claims his love for Ani is genuine, he also wants to obtain a green card and stay in the States so he won’t have to return to Russia to work for his father. The only thing these two genuinely have in common is how delusional they are about their situation. Considering their start, this can’t possibly end well.
Once back in Brooklyn, the couple begin to settle into their new reckless life with carefree abandon. Vanya quickly quits her job at HQ to settle into a worry-free life. However, the newlywed’s carefree vibe comes to a halt when reality hits them hard with a knock on their mansion door. Despite Vanya’s refusal, two men shoehorn their way in, bringing the honeymoon to a halt. Armenian Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Russian Igor (Yura Borisov) start by saying they want to talk with Vanya. After they ask for the marriage license, they get an Armenian named Toros (Karren Karagulian) on the phone, who happens to be Vanya’s handler.
At this point, Ani has worked herself up into a ball of confusion, angered at the sudden turn of events and Vanya’s inability to do anything, revealing how incapable he is of being the spouse she needs. After Vanya shows the marriage license per Garnick’s request, he immediately flees the mansion, running down the street in a blur. This leaves a furious Ani to defend herself and their marriage to these two strangers.
What exactly is going on here? Well, it turns out Vanya is the son of a wealthy and powerful Russian oligarch couple, Galina Zakharova (Darya Ekamasova) and Nikolai Zakharov (Aleksei Serebryakov), who sent their son to the States to get an education. As the entitled party bro, Vanya had different plans. Ani gets caught up in his childlike energy and Chalamet-esque charm, yet is soon subjected to being treated like a sex doll that’s discarded for Playstation (the equivalent of Vanya’s smoking-after-sex). Although Ani is swept up in this whirlwind of upper-class debauchery, any trace of true romance from Vanya is scant. Their impulsive marriage soon finds Ani facing the reality of their union. After all, this all started with a transaction.
As a writer and director, Baker has quite a knack for finding ways for viewers to connect and empathize with those who are typically stigmatized or dismissed. The settings and world-building of his films are just as memorable as the characters who tell his stories. Indeed, the characters stand out in his movies, and “Anora” is no different.
In the titular role, Mikey Madison delivers an impressive star turn. She’s got a distinctly Brooklyn accent and alluring moves that come with her character’s job, as well as a gifted sense for comic timing, but what’s most compelling is how she gradually conveys an unexpected yearning and sadness. Vanya could’ve been a stereotype, yet Eydelshteyn, who embodies a curious guilelessness, finds ways to portray some surprising complexities subtly. Both actors deliver more layers than we’d expect from such characters. While some of that concerns Baker’s excellent screenplay, the performances reaffirm there’s more to Ani and Vanya than we might initially think.
Baker even supplies the three actors who play the supporting characters, Toros, Garnick, and Uri, with more substantial material than one would expect. They could’ve just been violence-prone goons, and there are outrageous moments where these three and Ani could take a darker turn. Still, Baker is more concerned with the often hilarious absurdity that occurs. The most surprising and impressive characterization comes from Borisov’s Igor, who is given more to work with for what could’ve easily been a throwaway character. Baker’s closure to “Anora,” which involves a poignantly powerful two-fer between Borisov and Madison, will undoubtedly be one of the most memorable scenes of 2024.
Baker’s story has a distinctive three-act structure, with that poignant closer serving as a fitting coda. The combination of Baker’s kinetic editing and superb camerawork from cinematographer Drew Daniels provides “Anora” with an absorbing rhythmic quality to the story’s flow. It’s a delight to find a film that runs a seamless gamut of shifts: from indulgent debauchery to a home invasion, a manhunt, and a wedding and an annulment. It’s certainly not for everyone, but if you give it a chance, “Anora” will pull you in close and allow you to see people beyond the surface level for which we often dismiss them. It’s a funny, exciting, sexy modern fairy tale that has something provocative to say about opportunity and loneliness.
RATING: ****
