**This review contains spoilers**

I have been looking forward to seeing this movie for a while now. It won the Palme d’Or, which is the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, back in May and, since then, all I have heard is positive things about it. Now, am I happy to be able to personally report that, for me, it lived up to the hype.

Anora tells the story of the title character (Mikey Madison) who prefers to be called Ani and works at a Manhattan strip club. One night, she is sent to the table of the reckless son of a Russian oligarch named Ivan Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), because she knows a little Russian. Ivan isn’t like Ani’s regular customers and the two hit it off right away. This sets off a whirlwind of romance and chaos. But for a story that starts like Cinderella and Pretty Woman, a girl plucked from less than ideal circumstances by the handsome prince who will give her everything she ever wanted and they live happily ever after, Anora definitely doesn’t end that way.

The movie is essentially told in 3 parts: the fairytale, the crash, and the aftermath. Ani and Ivan’s (or Vanya, as he is most often referred) relationship is transactional, he gets sex and companionship and she gets money and luxury experiences, but there is definitely a real element of affection between the two. Their courtship and eventual marriage is sparkly and boozy and fun, a non-stop party where the real world outside of the bubble of their relationship doesn’t exist. But as soon as Vanya’s parents find out about his marriage to a stripper/sex worker and are forced to intervene, the movie hard cuts to a completely different tone. Suddenly, the lighting is harsh and dull, the music fades away, and the scenes are long and drawn out (no more glitzy montages). Reality hits. This is not a fairytale. It never was and it can’t be. We see the relationship between the main couple forcibly unravel in a mix of visceral heartbreak and screwball comedy antics throughout the second half of the film. It all culminates in Ani ending up right back where she started, as if none of it ever happened, although, this time, with the fresh wounds of the traumatic experience of being so blatantly used and discarded.

So what is Anora trying to say? The film was marketed with the tagline “love is a hustle”. Often in media, strippers, sex workers, and prostitutes are presented as hustlers. There is literally a movie that came out only a few years ago about strippers who steal from their clients called Hustlers. While Anora doesn’t totally flip that notion on its head, it does present a different viewpoint. Ani and Vanya start out both hustling each other. She’s in it for the money (that’s her job) and he’s in it to have some fun and piss off his parents. But instead of the story we typically see where he falls for her and believes it was all real while, in reality, it was just a job for her, Ani is the one who gets duped. She lets herself believe that she really could be Cinderella and the life Vanya promises her is actually within reach. But he’s not a Prince Charming. He’s an immature child kowtowing to his parents, unaffected by the people who are hurt by his debauchery. 

In the scene where Vanya’s parents have arrived from Russia to take Vanya and Ani back to Vegas to get their marriage annulled, Ani initially refuses to get on the plane. She stands up to Vanya’s icy, intimidating mother telling her that she will not be joining them, she will not be getting the marriage annulled, and, instead, she will be hiring a lawyer to take them to court for half in the divorce because she didn’t sign a prenup. This moment was met by genuine cheers from the audience in my theater. This was the Ani we liked to see: feisty, strong, and smart. But no, this story doesn’t have a happy ending. Only seconds later, Ani’s show of bravado is shot down by the very real threat that comes from messing with a family of enormous means and influence. In the real world, a lower class stripper doesn’t stand a chance against a wealthy, powerful opponent, as much as we would like to see her win. 

As much as she is manhandled throughout the second half of the film, Ani is not a submissive character. She knows how to manipulate people, how to hold her ground, and how to always be in control. Or at least make us think she is. Ani is constantly running a power play, a performance, projecting she’s in control until she finally can’t do it anymore. Throughout the film, through all of the heartbreak and trauma, we never see her break. But in the film’s final scene, when the entire experience is over and she ends up back at square one, it hits her. Sitting in the car with Igor (Yura Borisov), one of the hired thugs working for the Zakharov family, Ani initially tries to make herself feel better through sex. That is how she is used to asserting power and control, feelings she is desperately lacking after this entire ordeal. But when that doesn’t work, she finally breaks down, letting the weight of everything, of the emotional cost of being mistreated by men for a living and the pain of being used by them under the pretext of love, wash over her. She lets herself be truly vulnerable for the first time. Ani’s sobs fade to silence and that is the note that the audience is sent out on. As funny and raucous and farcical as things get in Anora, the truth of reality will always be a harsh slap in the face.

What is interesting about Anora is the way the film so instantly endears us to these characters. We never get any real backstory or personal information on any of them. We’re just thrown into the action and immediately understand them. Particularly Ani. Mikey Madison is unbelievable in this movie. A tour de force, as they say. All I could think while watching her was how incredibly brave her performance was (oh, and how much I loved the tinsel in her hair… should we bring that back? I kind of want to do it again). She gives it all and bares it all. She’s physical, pole dancing and fighting people. She’s funny, her comedic timing is perfect. And she’s emotional, her face is already so unique and interesting to look at and she portrays the spectrum of emotionality so well. Mikey has talked about how much work and research she put into crafting the character and it definitely pays off because she makes Ani feel so real. We don’t know where she came from or what motivates her or anything about who she is, but Mikey makes us like her and root for her and care for her. And it’s impossible to take your eyes off her. This is truly a star-making performance. She will surely be nominated for Best Actress and currently has a very good chance of winning. Also, fun fact, she adds to the growing list of young actors who were in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood who were virtually unknown in that film and are now fast growing superstars. Other members include Margaret Qualley, Austin Butler, Maya Hawke, and Sydney Sweeney. Just interesting for so many actors to come from the same branch (the other major branch is Euphoria, by the way). 

The entire cast is really a collection of revelatory performances. Mark Eydelshteyn who plays Vanya is a live wire of a personality. Dubbed by journalists as the “Russian Timothée Chalamet”, he is boyish and goofy and speaks in a mix of Russian and broken English. All of this works for Vanya who is suffering from a severe case of Peter Pan Syndrome. He is funny because of what he says and does but also because of how he says and does it. Either way, we’re pretty much always laughing at him. Mark’s performance is also very physical, changing his body language from spastic and pompous with Ani and his friends to childish and curling in on himself when his parents come around. Vanya’s godfather, Toros (Karren Karagulian) also makes us laugh as an increasingly exasperated babysitter attempting to wrangle Vanya and remedy the situation at any cost before he gets in trouble with the Zakharovs. Another notable actor is Yura Borisov as Igor. Initially introduced as an antagonist, Yura brings such a strange sense of calm and warmth to Igor, we start to trust him without any real reason to. The way he looks at Ani with amusement and affection with his soulful eyes and passive face knocks our guards down. (Also, some journalists are now calling Yura the “Russian Jeremy Allen White.) While we’re on Ani’s side, these characters make us realize that there aren’t any real “bad guys” here. Sure, many of them do morally questionable things, but aren’t purely evil. They do have their motivations. Vanya’s parents may be overly assertive and incredibly cold, but they are understandably concerned to find out that their son just married a sex worker he’s known for 3 weeks. Toros and his henchmen are just trying to do their jobs. They handle it completely wrong but they don’t have ill intentions. It is a hard line to walk to try to create any fondness or compassion for these rough-edged characters, Ani herself included, but that is the accomplishment of the film and these performances, that it pulls it off. 

Another difficult balance the movie manages to strike is in the visual palette. We see both the glittery, flashy world of clubs and partying through the rose-colored lenses of the fairytale and the cold light and grittiness of the world outside that bubble. Tonally, the movie is also completely unflinching. Sex, awkwardness, silence. We never cut away. The sex and nudity isn’t used for shock value. All of it is a reminder of how much this story is grounded in reality. Some scenes go on for notably long stretches, drawing out these moments and making us sit with them. Other scenes feature shaky camera shots, throwing us off balance and headlong into the chaos. Even though it includes some heartbreaking, emotional moments and thought-provoking ideas on class and culture, this movie is still really, really funny. The entire theater was having a great time watching the hijinks unfold and escalate. At this current moment, Anora is likely the frontrunner for Best Picture at the Oscars so you will definitely be hearing about it in the months to come. I think it’s a real crowd pleaser with genuine heart and thought and fun and would definitely recommend everyone see it. 

2024 Count: 27 seasons/specials, 55 movies