Baker’s latest proves one of the year’s best
Filmmaker Sean Baker first gained acclaim with his 2015 iPhone-filmed indie Tangerine. He continued his ascent with the equally well-received The Florida Project (2017) and Red Rocket (2021). Now, with his new movie Anora, writer/director Baker may finally find himself on the receiving end of an Oscar, for screenplay, directing, picture, or even all three. And his leading lady, Mikey Madison, is bound to earn an acting nomination for her incomparable performance as the titular Anora.
Ani, as Anora prefers to be called, is a New York lap dancer trying to keep her head up and make some decent money. She can’t believe her luck when, because she can speak rudimentary Russian thanks to her grandmother, her boss assigns her to entertain Ivan (Mark Eidelshtein), the energetic 21-year-old son of a wealthy Russian business mogul. Ivan not only asks Ani to be his girlfriend for a week for $15,000, but later, after a raucous, joyful partying stint in Las Vegas, marries her in a Vegas chapel.
At this point you may think you know where the story is going—indeed, Baker peppers his film with allusions to familiar fairy tale-esque, hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold films like Pretty Woman and Risky Business. But the genius of Baker’s film is how he subverts expectations. The latter part of the film involves a quest by handlers hired by Ivan’s angry parents—with Ani reluctantly in tow—to find Ivan after he escapes his handlers’ supervision. Ivan flees after learning his outraged parents are on their way from Russia to reprimand him and force an annulment.
Throughout this entire adventure, Ani remains headstrong, fierce, and unrelenting in her defense of Ivan and their relationship. Baker and Madison have created such an indelible, likable, and sympathetic character in Ani that we are instantly charmed by her. We spend the entire film rooting for her to receive the love, respect, and success that we know she deserves, but that she doesn’t always feel worthy of.
While Madison is the standout, Eidelshtein also turns in an impressive performance as Ivan. Imagine if Timothée Chalamet were Russian, and you’ll have some idea of the youthful naivete Eidelshtein brings to the role. And although the picture deals with some heavy issues, in true Sean Baker style, it’s also riotously funny at times, thanks in part to some terrific character work from several of the supporting actors playing the handlers. As the frustrated lead handler Toros, for example, Baker staple Karren Karagulian’s offhanded, dry delivery of one of the film’s best quips about social media will catch you off guard with its unexpected punch and honesty. Russian actress Darya Ekamasova, too, as Ivan’s imposing mother Galina, steals every scene she’s in in a way that will make you cower along with those she’s dressing down.
But Ani’s unlikely ally is the quietest of the handlers, the watchful Igor, played with soulful intensity by Russian actor Yuri Borisov. Watching trust slowly develop between the wary, scared, and guarded Ani and the kind and sensitive Igor is one of the film’s most rewarding pleasures. Madison and Borisov create two wounded, undervalued characters who are more alike than they realize, and their final scene together will remind you that cinema can be powerful and beautiful, especially when someone like Sean Baker provides us with stories this unique, thoughtful, lovely, and heartbreaking. Anora is one of the best movies of the year, and you shouldn’t miss it.
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Anora is now playing in theaters.
