Anora Movie Review

Sean Baker Delivers one of the most original films of the year that stars as pretty women then are so unpredictable from there

Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively 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. Sean Baker creates a widely original film that starts as pretty woman then pivots into something completely different, unique, and sexy that features a fantastic lead performance from Mikey Madison who you may now from Scream 5. The film so well shot the cinematography is beautiful with energetic camera work to complement it perfectly that it stands out from other films of 2024.

Sean Baker does a wonderful job directing this film being able to balance the different tones going from sex scenes that are actually sexy to when Igor and Garnick who work for Ivans father is unexpectedly hilarious to heartbreaking when Ivans parents show up and you see how much Ivan hates them with them thinking so little of him that they want him to grow up but make decisions for him. Baker’s choices of camera placement are so dynamic it always pulls you in which propels you to the next scene like when Annie, Toros, Igor, and Garnick are looking for Ivan after he runs away is unpredictable, funny, intense, and just crazy considering this film starts out with a pretty woman setup that this is where it goes. Baker as the director gets great performances out of the whole cast not just Madison as the title character a directors most important job is to get great performances of his cast, and he does that in spades.

Mikey Madison as the title character Anora is great in this film the range, she must show in this film is a lot and very brave having to be naked for the first act which she does with grace, confidence, and nuance. I love how she is clearly in control when she is having these meetups with Ivan when they first meet then when everything is flipped on its head she does not back down at all which leads to some of the funniest scenes in the movie like when Igor and Garnick are trying to calm her down then cries rape their panic in their reaction is so funny because you can that’s not what’s happening or what they would never do but are panicked by her yelling that. The Final scene Madison has where she breaks down crying in the car with Igor is as the rest of the movie so unexpected and devastating which might be her Oscar clip scene its phenomenal acting on her part. Mark Edelstein as Ivan is damn good as Ivan as much as Mickey Madison is getting all the acclaim which is richly deserved Edelstein goes toe to toe with her portraying this rich brat of a Russian billionaire to sad pathetic kid who clearly not only hates his parents but himself from how they treat him which is great because it would have been so easy to make him just the generic spoiled rich kid but giving him these layers to play elevate Anora to a film I totally understand why it’s in the race for best picture at the Oscars.

The script for this film is so well written by Sean Baker the way it lays out its characters, their conflicts with each other to layering these characters in a way that is not cliché takes a visionary like Baker to write which makes the film so exciting to watch. The dialogue in the film is awesome to listen to because of how it handles these conversations between the characters sharp, intelligent, hilarious, and very insightful into the world of sex workers who are often disrespected by society are shown to be people who have personalities. The big accomplishment of the script is how its takes characters in this film and make you feel completely differently by the end of the film withers that’s people you hate but then have sympathy for then by the end or people you like have more complicated feelings about them then when the film started is a hard thing to pull off but Baker does it and shows why he is one of the most exciting voices in film today.

Final thoughts on the film is while I’m not in love with this film like a lot of other people are I liked this movie quite a bit and hope we get more original films I the future to balance out the franchise Ip stuff that can be great but also sadly is boring way to much in my opinion so if you can please go out to the theater to see it or get on 4k/Blu-ray when it comes out on physical media or but it on VOD. The rating I give this film is 4 out of 5.