Sean Baker’s Anora is a heartbreaking odyssey into the Americana folklore of success and prosperity that ultimately crushes the souls of those dreaming of their fairytale.

Preferring to go by Ani, Anora’s (Mikey Madison) nights as an exotic dancer include gossiping and vaping outside with coworkers, scouring the club for potential customers, and many dances. Interrupting her pattern is a Russian high-roller seeking a dancer who speaks Russian as Ani volunteers due to her Russian grandmother-speaking background. The very baby-faced Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch, is Ani’s client who takes a sudden liking to the young dancer sparking the beginning of a cyclonic one-sided love affair. 

From immediate signs, it’s apparent  Vanya is not all he says he is. He is immature, inexperienced, and incapable of separating people’s class level from their humanity based on his interaction with his service staff. Vanya is hooked on Ani constantly inviting her over for sex while making it obvious to his inner circle what she does for a living painting the label of escort on her for the duration of the film’s runtime. It’s when Vanya offers a high price to become exclusive with Ani that her attraction to him starts to set in and after years of hard work the American dream has finally chosen to reward her with wealth.

Swept up in the haze of love and sparkle of glamour for their week-long entanglement, Vanya jets the pair and others off to Vegas to party in the nicest clubs and spend unlimited money as Vanya unravels more of his distaste for workers at the high roller table. Vanya takes their romance to another level by proposing marriage to get a green card and stay in the States. The picture-perfect adoration between the young Russian and Ani shatters when the lights come on and reality sets in, embarking her on an anxiety-riddled rush to find her runaway husband. It is one of the few ways Vanya knowingly has the upper hand in their relationship taking advantage of her situation. Someone of his notability shouldn’t find it hard to get a green card to stay when you have grown up scamming the system because of your financial standing.

Anora has been described as a comedy though it does have those elements, there is something more tragic in Anora’s soul. Mainly how someone like her is used as a pawn in the larger game of the wealthy. Sean Baker’s commitment to destigmatizing sex workers is on full display as he removes the cartoonish appearance usually associated with this group in most movies. He depicts their work as a typical 9-5 full of messy coworkers, micromanaging bosses, and the drive to make enough to live. This way of life gives them security to make money but the opportunity to leave and be financially stable is always in their peripheral vision. Like every job there is a point of burnout seen from Anora’s bubblegum blowing while giving a lapdance to a customer forcing herself to be enthusiastic for the sake of making a buck.  It’s the humanization of a misunderstood group that makes Anora’s story compelling to the general viewer. They see her as a young girl doing what she needs to do to make a living and survive in the land of America.

Madison’s Bambi eyes serve Anora well in communicating that at the end of the day, she is just a girl with a dream. When she is dressed more in lengthy lashes, a butterfly manicure, and sparkly tinseled-out hair that completes the armor she utilizes to take on a world conditioned to look down on her. She wears her confidence outwardly and it’s the few things that keep her in control as she’s thrust into a family feud she has no part in. One of the most heartbreaking scenes of the film where Anora’s standing with Vanya materializes is when she washes her face in the mirror stripping off the last remaining lashes and sparkle that gave her the courage to assault and scream her way from Vanya’s father’s henchmen. 

In the mix are the underlying themes of the Eastern European Immigration culture set as the beachy backdrop of Anora’s odyssey. The liveliness of Brighton Beach brings groundedness to what would otherwise be seen as a completely manic chase. Searching for a lost Vanya in the backstreets and nightclubs of the beach illuminating the rich Rusian culture infused at every step. Frequent Armenian collaborators of Baker fill in the cultural differences between the Americanized descendants and the new generation like Vanya. A very accurate Armenian baptism scene conveys the traditionalism Vanya descends from while also centering Baker’s depictions of the culture. There are always going to be cultural concerns coming from marriage and the type of person a family will allow someone to marry to hold onto their name and good reputation. Vanya is a loser that only Anora saw something special in but the conservative nature of his heritage doesn’t allow for this union to be acceptable. 

In comparison, Igor, one of the henchmen that is not fully fleshed out, moves from a potential rapist to someone that really identifies with the struggle of Anors as he watches her face every obstacle Vanya throws her way. He sees her resilience and fights for what she believes in as he resonates with her being the only person who looks out for her wellbeing. In their little moments of giving her a scarf because she is cold to keep respectable space, there is a budding relationship hinted their way. His own experience as an immigrant can be comparable to Anora’s descent from an Uzbek family both having to fight the stereotypes of the world and working as hard as they can for scraps. It is what makes their interactions fascinating as he sees the mistreatment from Vanya and the standoff between Ani and Vanya’s mother, but knows Anora is the type of person to want to speak for herself. 

Swapping out the sultry club and luxurious Vega for the crisp cold boardwalk Anora’s story moves from the high highs to the low lows in how fast the dream can be snatched away.  This enriched setting mixed with Drew Daniel’s effortless cinematography embodies the feelings of pulling an all-nighter for the best night of your life and then waking up to the fluorescent-lit world to face the consequences of your choices. The light is held to Anora as she is mangled, matted, and tired trying to find the one person she believes will unlock her from this spell. 

Baker centers in on the transactional relationships of achieving the American Dream, something Anora is well-educated in for her services as a dancer understanding the give and take making her realization that the love she thought she shared between her and Vanya ever more gut-wrenching. It’s a love affair turned tragedy when in the end you were only a plaything for a spoiled brat’s quick trip to America. Flexing his hold on you because his incompetence implies he will never amount to anything greater so the next option is to buy a human for pleasure. Ani holds on for as long as she can even ready to risk everything she has against Vanya’s highbrow mother until she finally grasps her social standing in comparison to Vanya’s. Even if she worked as hard as she could, she will always be seen below these types of people wearing the mark of her profession and class status like a red tinseled A. The fantasy has crashed down with a hit harder than the glass table broken earlier in the film.

In the final moments of the film as Anora lets out a gasp succumbing to her repressed emotions as Igor comforts her to the sound of the windshield wipers is when the film finally comes together in a poetic tune that she’s a young girl with no one to lookout for her than herself and for once she wants to feel taken care of. 

As Lana Del Rey once said, “Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have I have it” and so does Anora. 

Grade: A

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Lead Actress (Mikey Madison), Best Film Editing
Should be Considered: Best Supporting Actor (Yuriy Borisov)

Release Date: October 18, 2024
Where to Watch: In Theaters