Anora
U.S.A. 2024

Opening 31 Oct 2024

Directed by: Sean Baker
Writing credits: Sean Baker
Principal actors: Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman, Lindsey Normington, Emily Weider, Luna Sofía Miranda

Ani/Anora (Mikey Madison) is a young, vibrant, fun-loving lap dancer and “escort” working in an exotic dance club, Headquarters, in Brooklyn. Customers drop by Headquarters to watch dancers’ gyrating bodies, keeping time to throbbing dance music; some pay extra and do more than just watch. Ani is just trying to get by. She has no illusions of a white knight in shining armor whisking her away, as she meekly returns to her modest apartment every night. One evening Ani’s club manager announces he has a big one on the hook, the son of a Russian oligarch is looking for an American adventure. Because Ani learned a bit of Russian at her grandmother’s knee, she is introduced to Vanya/Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn). Vanya, who speaks in the most charming blend of Russian and English, is tall, gangly, handsome, a Timothée Chalamet-esque teddy bear—and a very big spender. What started out as just a one-night tryst, turns into a real romance. Ani spends more and more time living it up in Vanya’s jet set world, a world of parties, video games, alcohol, drugs, a fabulous mansion, and lots of not-so-good-for-her sex. Ani has become Vanya’s American fantasy. “God bless America” he moans as a tribute to Ani during one hot and heavy session. Vanya falls madly in love with Ani, his powerful parents, living far away in Russia, be damned. Though her skepticism is difficult to completely mask, she, too, gets swept up in his American adventure. They fly off to Las Vegas where Ani accepts his on-a whim marriage proposal, and they wed in scrappy Las Vegas wedding chapel style.

So, they live happily ever after, like in Pretty Woman (1990)? Of course not.

Vanya’s parents had hired Toros (Karren Karagulian), an Orthodox priest, to be Vanya’s handler to keep him out of trouble on his trip to America. Toros hadn’t been vigilant, and when he hears about the wedding, he travels with two henchmen, Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov) to bully the newlyweds to have the marriage annulled. Vanya cuts and runs, and Ani is left to fend for herself as they go off in search of the coward before his parents arrive. Once the priest and two Russian goons panic, fearful of the oligarch and his wife’s furor, it could have turned brutal. But what ensues becomes a slapstick comedy of errors since Ani, as it turns out, is not the wilting, helpless victim they were expecting to cower. As they scour the streets of New York City and Brooklyn and Coney Island looking for Vanya, the spoiled rotten manchild, the Russian strongmen learn that Ani herself is a force to be reckoned with. Big burly Igor is especially impressed.

Sean Baker, director-writer, has created a masterpiece in Anora. His films like The Florida Project (2017) and Red Rocket (2021) are studies of the class system in the US; they portray the gritty side of the American Dream. Anora premiered on May 21, 2024, in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or. What could have been a somber, depressing film, turned into a Cinderella-fairytale-gone-awry madcap comedy. Mikey Madison brings beauty, charm, wit, and perfect timing to her role as Ani. A star is born. (Pat Frickey)