Review: ‘Anora’ is an Electrifying Experience from Sean Baker with a Phenomenal Mikey Madison

Sex workers have long been protagonists of feature films and, in some cases, been presented as people who enjoy what they do and have found a way to be happy in a profession most audiences wouldn’t ever want to try. Yet it doesn’t feel like there’s ever been someone quite like the title character in Anora, who knows her strengths and how to get exactly what she wants. Sean Baker’s latest film is at its most intriguing when it shows its formidable and forceful protagonist faced with circumstances she can’t control but isn’t willing to accept, building to one of the most watchable and memorable extended sequences in recent cinematic memory.

Ani (Mikey Madison) is great at what she does. The film’s opening scene finds her dancing and going from customer to customer in a strip club, flirting and insisting that one potential client who doesn’t have cash on him begin their unforgettable night together with a trip to the ATM. She’s handpicked because of her semi-fluency when Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), a young Russian drowning in the wealth of his parents, comes in looking to party. When Vanya hires Ani to spend time with him for a week straight, the two become very close, leading to an offer to take Ani out of this life forever. When Toros (Karren Karagulian), who works for Vanya’s parents and has been charged with keeping an eye on him, finds out what’s going on, he enlists Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov) to clean up Vanya’s mess, which is hardly a simple matter.

Baker has been on a hot streak following the Gotham Award-winning Tangerine and the Oscar-nominated The Florida Project. This film feels in some ways like his most recent feature, Red Rocket, which follows a chaotic protagonist and takes a mid-film turn that completely changes the tone and direction after that point. The arrival of Garnick and Igor to Vanya’s home is most certainly like that, and this is by far Baker’s longest film, clocking in at 138 minutes, giving that very stark and remarkably entertaining portion of the narrative plenty of time to play out and make great use of its characters’ physical comedy and witty repartee.

As Ani, Madison puts on a heavy New York accent that speaks volumes about how she walks through the world, intent on not putting up with anything from anyone. The way in which Ani feels like she’s unquestionably the one calling the shots even with her body exposed is fascinating, and the dynamic that she has with Vanya is even more mesmerizing. As portrayed by Eydelshteyn, Vanya feels much like Andrew Barth Feldman’s awkward comedic virgin in No Hard Feelings but inspired by the millions he can freely access to have considerably more unearned confidence. When he eagerly pulls off his clothes and flips over onto the bed when Ani makes a house call, it’s clear that he’s just a boy having a good time, pulling Ani into something much more complicated and dangerous than even she can expect.

Madison, previously best known for her role as Pamela Adlon’s attitude-heavy oldest daughter on Better Things and a cult member in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, completely dominates this film with her character’s singular energy and fearlessness. She handles both halves of the film exceptionally well, and her argumentative chemistry with the three men who come to knock her down a peg is fantastic. Borisov in particular says a great deal with just his facial expressions and broken English, proving to be a surprisingly stellar scene partner for the much louder and angrier Madison.

Anora was deservedly crowned the winner of the Palme d’Or following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and despite its heavy focus on Russian and Armenian communities in New York and the world of sex workers, this film has an appeal that should be universal. At first it’s captivating and dreamlike, then it shifts into an almost slapstick comedy with rapid-fire dialogue before anchoring at a dramatic conclusion. Baker is enormously talented and this feels like a culmination of his previous efforts, enlisting an Oscar-worthy Madison and an astonishing supporting cast for a rollercoaster ride that won’t let anyone off until its very last scene.

Movie Rating: 9/10

Awards Buzz: Consider this an Oscar frontrunner. Though Cannes’ top prize has only ever led two films – Marty and Parasite – to the Best Picture prize, this one is still a lock for nominations across the board, set to deliver Baker his first writing and directing bids and Madison a Best Actress nomination. Technical bids are likely too and, if voters really love the film, Borisov or other cast members could also be in contention.