I almost didn’t want to review ANORA because all the wonders of the film are best left to be discovered by audiences with precious little given away by film critics. Suffice it to say, go to this exceptional love story filled with nuance, hilarity, profanity, twists and turns, plus a superb ensemble of actors playing unforgettable characters anchored by the Oscar-worthy performance by Mikey Madison in the title role.
Now, if you’re still with me and want to hear more about the film, please read on. But I’ll still try to praise it without giving too much away.
There are so many aspects to the latest from filmmaker Sean Baker that rise above and utterly defy expectations. On paper, ANORA sounded like a more profane PRETTY WOMAN with a bit of KLUTE around its edges. All three films concern a young sex worker who becomes intimately involved with a customer, but ANORA manages to blend the best of both films, butting hilarity right up against pathos. And it’s done while presenting as a superb character study too, along with being a knowing commentary on the sex trade.
Ani (Madison) is a 23-year-old exotic dancer at a strip club who is a profane and tough-talking New Yorker. As Baker sets up her world, we find Ani readily in control of it. She easily cajoles lonely men into lap dances and VIP rooms, earning tips with ease, all the while coming off as sweet and wholesome, even girlish. She knows all the angles, moves her body with confidence throughout every aspect of her job, and is even open to making more money vis a vis the “extras” at the club or by escorting special clients on the side. One of those men she continues with outside the walls of the club is Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), a skinny Russian who may be 21, but acts like he’s 13. He’s young, brash, and goofy, but he takes a liking to Ani and soon she’s sleeping with him regularly for money at the side.
The mansion he lives in on the river in New York City impresses the hell out of Ani who shares an apartment with a cranky roomie near the subway tracks. Ivan “wines and dines” Ani and it isn’t long before the two are jetting to Vegas in a private plane for a long weekend with a few of his friends. It all feels like a Cinderella story, as Ani tells a friend, and soon the headiness of the trip leads Ari and Ivan into a cheesy chapel on the Strip to tie the knot. Meanwhile, back in New York, that news fails to impress those charged with watching over Ivan on behalf of his oligarch father. The Russian crew has indulged his overt irresponsibility for years, but now he’s gone and dragged collateral damage into such buffoonery, and the mighty men will not have it.
Without giving too much away, those men come-a-callin’ to annul the marriage and nothing is exactly cut and dry. For starters, the film morphs from a fascinating character study of two young people in over their heads, into a tense examination of class systems and patriarchies. It also turns into a LOL farce before morphing again, this time into a gritty and often unsettling chase movie.
But Baker’s film never turns into a cliché-ridden mob story. Instead, this film constantly surprises starting with how the three henchmen are presented and portrayed. Head aide Toros (Karren Karaguilan) is a dandy and a fussbudget; his brother Garnick (Vache Toymasyan) is a hapless lackey; and the new, young associate Igor (Yura Borisov) may be the ‘muscle’ but he thinks much more with his head and heart. Not only does Sean Baker’s script give them all a lot of screen time, but their characters change and grow as they’re forced to deal with the headstrong Ani.
There are moments where extreme danger and potential violence are brewing just under the service, but Baker is not interested in telling a story about a pitiable sex worker who becomes the worst kind of collateral damage. Instead, as the story goes on, alliances shift, the upper hand shifts back and forth, and everyone is put through the wringer. All the while, it’s a remarkable study of sex, love, and power, one that will make you laugh, cry, and gasp.
Baker and his team work marvels with all aspects of the production, from the expert costume design (subtler than you’d expect), specifics of production design in each setting (the decorations of the mansion are a film unto themselves), and the framing of every single shot. Note how Baker’s lens constantly makes room for Igor’s nuanced reactions in the frame, subtly showing his growing empathy. And in Madison, Baker hits pay dirt. She stands out amongst this wondrous ensemble cast with her vulnerability, sensuality, and expressive face that could rival silent era greats like Renee Jeanne Falconetti, Lillian Gish, and Bessie Love.
Baker even manages to make something special about Ani’s formal name that gives this film its title. That bit of information is revealed late in the game in one of the most fascinating final 10 minutes of a film I’ve ever seen. Two locations, one on a couch and another in a car, are marked by a vivid blend of revelation, intimacy, and equality. I was gobsmacked.
ANORA is so many things, so many little, delightful things, but its emotional wallop is about as big as any film can boast.