‘Anora’ – Review
2024 has been a fantastic year for dramatic, character-driven storytelling, and one of the year’s best releases is undoubtedly Sean Baker’s Anora. This modern-day Cinderella tale revolves around themes of sex, cash, and manufactured love. It’s a film that you won’t be able to look away from.
Anora ‘Ani’ Mikheeva (Mikey Madison), a sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and 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.
As a filmmaker, Sean Baker is a director who has made a name for himself by telling stories from those outcasts of society. His protagonists exist on society’s fringes as a group of hustlers, hoes and horndogs, and his natural storytelling and ability to infuse his film’s subject matter with deep empathy always strikes a chord with audiences. Now, with Anora, he delivers his most moving and beautiful story yet, as this ‘American Cinderella’ tale is a dark, dramatic, crazy, and somewhat hilarious story of purchased love and the American Dream slapped together that at its euphoric high suddenly thrown into a tailspin of drama. Focusing on the life of Mikey Madison’s Anora ‘Ani’ Mikheeva, a Russian-born Brooklyn-based stripper and sex worker who falls into being a companion for a wayward, spoiled expat Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), Anora is a film of immense emotion and style, and it’s a rollercoaster ride from A to Z as Ani’s desire for a fairytale ending quickly turns in the other direction.
When you walk into Anora you feel as if you’re about to see the ‘true’ Pretty Woman story about a prostitute who falls for a client, and while Anora doesn’t have the fairytale ending, and has shades of a dark journey through sex, and vice, it’s also not what you expect it to be. While I don’t want to go into too much detail as to the plot points of this film, as it is best enjoyed in one complete sitting, Baker’s narrative goes all over the place, and in it, we see a true picture of Ani’s character appear. While she soon becomes accustomed to the lavish lifestyle provided to her, her journey through the chaos of Vanya’s life soon sours her, and audiences are left with a very interesting and emotional conclusion. Baker focuses on the actions of the story driving Ani’s character, and it’s an utterly revealing watch as her new ‘fairytale’ soon begins to spin out of control.
Anora is entirely character-driven, and all praise must be directed toward Mikey Madison for her career-best performance as Ani. With her pixie-like movements, flirtatious demeanour, and hustler’s mindset, Ani is a young woman from the wrong side of the tracks who understands that her body is her ultimate asset and is trying to cash out while she can. Madison perfects Ani’s Brooklyn-Russian-tinged accent, delivering an unfiltered sense of manufactured happiness that drives Ani’s behaviour throughout the film.
However, it is in her emotional delivery that Madison truly excels. As this purchased dream begins to implode around her, her genuine emotions surface and her performance is sure to bring tears to your eyes. Madison shows no hesitation in tackling the film’s explicit sex scenes; while there is a significant amount of raw, rushed intimacy on display, it is also crucial for understanding Ani’s character and her longing for true empathy and connection, which has been denied to her. Madison’s performance is one of the best you’ll see all year, and her commitment to this character and narrative deserves high praise.
The experience of Anora unfolds like a fever dream filled with neon lights, and the cinematography of Drew Daniels is breathtaking. It envelops you in the vibrant twilight where Ani operates, a world where dreams can be purchased at any price. The imagery possesses a unique grain and style that adds immediacy to the film, enhancing the intense narrative and rapid pace of the story. The hip-hop and trap soundtrack immerses you further in this ‘paid-for’ fantasy life surrounding Ani, while Baker’s pursuit of authenticity in both story and character is amplified through these musical choices. Anora is a quintessential cinematic experience that completely captivates you with its storytelling.
Anora is undoubtedly one of the best films of 2024. Mikey Madison delivers a heartfelt and emotive performance that draws you into this vibrant, chaotic story about love, money, and the American Dream. The narrative is shaken up and culminates in an explosion of emotions and feelings.
Image: NEON
