Anora (Photo – Universal Pictures)
A Brooklyn stripper/prostitute, played by Mikey Madison, hustles in a sleazy nightclub where she meets Vanya, a young, dissolute son of rich Russian parents. He hires her for sex and partying and when they are in Las Vegas, proposes marriage.
Anora
Directed by Sean Baker– 2024
Reviewed by Garrett Rowlan
At this point, I thought the film was going to veer into a thriller as Ani must contend with and, I thought, escape the ire of Vanya’s wealthy parents. They are unhappy with their wayward son’s choice and send two goons to the luxurious digs where the newlyweds have sex, drugs, and for Vanya a constant diet of video games. Bulky men dressed for winter and muttering in Russian signal an ominous turn in the script.
Instead, the movie slips into near-farce as Ani (as the protagonist calls herself) has to contend with the goons as they try to restrain her while she bites, kicks, screams, and tussles with them and in the process breaks furniture, artwork, and a nose. As they try to find the decamped Vanya (the spineless youth abandons her) to have the marriage annulled, Ani and her captors find a sort of common ground and a grudging tolerance, if not respect.
I have no idea who Mikey Madison is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if her name wasn’t mentioned at Oscar time. As the Ani of the film’s initial scenes becomes the Anora of her birth certificate, as she defies the Russian parents and their fixer and their lawyer, the actress’s party-girl, callous features become augmented by a dawning maturity. She seems almost to grow up overnight—the bulk of the movie happens in 24 hours—and finds in herself a resilience and a hint of maturity when, at the movie’s end, the wall-to-wall soundtrack stops and the film’s singular act of love plays out as snow falls outside.
The film’s wintry, muted look—you can almost feel the cold coming from the screen—extends even to the Las Vegas scenes where a sickly yellow sun seems to have little warmth. It is here that Ani’s resistance meets the power of money, class, and connections.
Anora is hardly the holiday movie we might want, but in this era of turmoil it is the holiday movie we might deserve.
> Playing at Landmark Pasadena Playhouse, Regal Edwards Alhambra Renaissance, AMC Santa Anita 16, LOOK Dine-In Cinemas Glendale and Laemmle Glendale.
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