‘Anora’ review: Dir. Sean Baker [LFF 2024]

Ever since his iPhone-shot feature, Tangerine, director Sean Baker has garnered attention for creating stories for those on the fringes of society, with sex workers a recurring motif. Unlike other stories that portray these characters as fundamentally broken, or as the dregs of society, Baker’s work offers a more positive representation that shows that those that work within that industry are just people trying to earn a living like everyone else. Having already impressed with Tangerine and Red Rocket, Baker’s latest film, Anora, might just be his greatest movie to date. 

In Anora, the titular character is played by Scream star, Mikey Madison. Whilst her character in the slasher requel was met with some backlash, her performance in Anora is certain to change perceptions. As Anora – or Ani as she prefers – Madison is intoxicating. Right from the opening montage wherein Baker presents an average night on shift as an exotic dancer, Madison is mesmerising. Then as the story begins, the viewer is presented with a ballsy and beautiful New Yorker who is firmly in control of her own choices. She is a fierce and strong young woman. Mikey Madison instils Ani with a formidable amount of ferocity, and is careful to not make her one note. She soon shows the audience her softer side, and by the end of the first twenty minutes, the viewer is smitten. 

A work-based meeting with a young Russian oligarch, Ivan (Mark Eidelshtein), upends Ani’s life as she knows it. Chosen to entertain Ivan due to her ability to speak Russian, the two immediately hit it off and Ani finds herself working for Ivan off the books. Suddenly Ani finds herself living the Cinderella story by way of Pretty Woman. The opening half of Anora plays very much like a fairy tale. Ani is a Brooklyn princess-in-waiting, her sparkly hair making her a striking beauty. The combination of her assured attitude and confidence juxtaposed with Ivan’s childlike innocence is dangerously charming. Just like Ani herself, the audience slowly falls in love with their partnership. Baker charts their whirlwind romance across a series of whipcrack fast montages that fly past so fast the audience becomes breathless. Each montage is bathed in sparkles and pinks and recounts lavish parties and an excess of wealth. 

Watching these two characters connect is beautiful and Anora’s version of the Cinderella story is initially one that many will find themselves yearning to experience. Baker wonderfully encapsulates those first flourishes of love and the overriding amount of passion and lust that accompanies these moments. Sadly however, Anora subverts the fairytale story for its second half. A shotgun Vegas wedding throws Ani’s idyllic new life into turmoil as her new in-laws desperately try to have the marriage annulled. Whereas the first act of Anora is a hedonistic romance, what follows is a more serious account of the implosion of Ani’s dream. Baker however, does ensure that there are still plenty of lighter moments. Anora is hilarious on several occasions. 

Mikey Madison flits from drama, romance and comedy like a chameleon. Her first encounter with Ivan’s parents’ representatives is one of the funniest sequences of 2024, and much of this is thanks to Madison’s performance in the scene. The actor appears to channel her inner Angelina from Jersey Shore as she unleashes a tirade of aggression and expletives at the men that she finds in her new home. It is at this moment that the character of Igor (Yura Borisov) is introduced. Initially positioned as Ani’s enemy, the two characters’ dynamic changes and becomes one of the most interesting pairings in Anora. Commendation should also be given to Eidelshtein who plays Ivan as a loveable idiot before switching into spoilt brat mode. The flick of the switch is powerful and leaves the audience’s heart aching as much as Ani’s ultimately does. 

Although clocking in at just under the 140 minute run time, Anora never feels its length. The constant change in tone helps keep the pace punching along. Baker’s use of montage, especially during the first half, enables a lot of time and information to be expressed in a short space. The x-factor and charm of Ani herself serves to distract the viewer from clockwatching. This performance from Mikey Madison is superb and, come award season, in a just world she would be handsomely rewarded for her work.  

Having been the recipient of Cannes’ Palme d’Or, Anora looks set to take the award season by storm and deservedly so. Few directors have four films in their whole career as strong as Sean Baker’s last quartet of movies. From Tangerine to The Florida Project, to Red Rocket and now landing on Anora, Baker is spoiling audiences with a constant influx of compelling and complex stories. 

Anora was reviewed at the London Film Festival 2024. Anora arrives in UK cinemas from 1st November 2024.