Rating: 8/10
**This review may contain spoilers.**
“Anora” is a vibrantly entertaining and chillingly heartbreaking tale of love and disillusionment, boldly set against shots of lace thongs, bare chests and chaotic ecstasy.
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Known for works such as “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project,” director Sean Baker creates independent films that touch on sensitive subjects, portraying them in a crushingly unrefined way that illustrates the complexities of race, class and gender.
Baker’s newest film, “Anora,” is a twisted fairytale that highlights the realities of sex work and the lengths one will go to achieve a better life.
Russian-American and New York sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison) works as an exotic dancer at a nightclub, boldly whisking men away with her sultry voice and blunt humor.
From the beginning of the film, she is portrayed as gritty and self-reliant, and Madison does an excellent job of depicting her tough persona and New York brashness. She’s not weak, and she’s certainly not helpless — she makes her livelihood as a sex worker, and she isn’t ashamed of it.
When she meets Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of Russian oligarchs, she sees a chance at a fairytale ending and takes it. She wasn’t looking for a savior, but when she finds one, she’s hard-pressed to let him go.
Ivan seems harmless enough, with a charmingly boyish vibe, broken English and clueless persona that disarms Ani and the audience.
After asking Ani if she would be exclusive for $10,000 — which she counters with $15,000 — the two spend a week together in a chaotic whirlwind of sex, parties, drugs and glamor before Ivan proposes to Ani in Las Vegas.
Ani believes that Ivan is the key to a better life, and their blossoming romance makes it seem like they’re truly in love despite the circumstances. The film suggests that maybe love can happen in unexpected ways, and maybe happiness isn’t that hard to find.
Ani envisions a better life, while Ivan says the marriage is a way to avoid returning to Russia and working for his father. The arrangement serves both purposes, and the first hour of the movie is a disillusioned portrayal of the couple’s fleeting happiness.
Ani’s emotional journey is mirrored by the striking cinematography, the film displaying vibrant beauty alongside nauseating bleakness. The dark, hazy lights of the nightclub give way to the stark brightness of their home, portraying the subtle but apparent harshness of reality.
It isn’t long before cracks in Ani and Ivan’s fantasy begin to show; their fairytale marriage is interrupted when Ivan’s parents send Toros (Karren Karagulian), a priest who manages the family affairs, along with two assistants to find Ivan and annul the marriage.
This marks the first part of the film where Ani’s dream is truly shattered, and the cracks of her facade begin to show. She’s presented the world and then has it cruelly snatched away from her, leaving her vulnerable and powerless.
Madison fully embodies Ani’s tenacious persona while also illustrating her internal struggles. Her vulnerabilities are portrayed swiftly — a wide-eyed look of disbelief or anguish seeping from her half-bent posture — but they are there nonetheless.
“You do not know this guy,” Toros said to Ani during a tumultuous assault scene, and as the film pans out, the statement rings painfully true.
For Ivan, his relationship with Ani was simply transactional, based on sex and entertainment rather than love or even the potential for love. To him, the marriage was just a last week of fun before returning to Russia, and Ani was nothing but a “hooker” who was stupid to think any of it was real.
“Anora” precariously balances on the line of catering to the male gaze and authentically portraying the complexities of sex work, class and womanhood. While there are numerous scenes detailing the gritty reality of sex work, it holds meaning rather than just being a dehumanizing aspect of the film to ogle at.
The two-hour film straddles the line between comedy and agony, with a more sinister tone hidden behind its confrontational attitude. It’s ridiculous as much as it is truly heartbreaking, and it’s sexy as much as it’s undesirably human.
It’s a sparkling narrative that audaciously portrays the crudeness of reality and the fragility of fantasy, serving as a bittersweet reminder of the complexities of self.
