By Maurice Burbige | December 9, 2024
Mikey Madison at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
If you don’t know much about the world of independent cinema, you probably haven’t heard of director Sean Baker before, but if you have, you’re likely aware of the common purpose of his filmography: demystifying and destigmatizing sex work.
In his newest film Anora, which won the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, Mikey Madison (who you may recognize from the fifth Scream film) plays the titular character, a twenty-something stripper in Brooklyn, who prefers to go by Ani. Ani’s great at what she does, and her Prince Charming, Ivan, falls in love with her immediately, dragging her into his world of excess, wealth, and immature freedom. But when his Russian oligarch family finds out about their entanglement, the plot takes a hard turn, and the movie becomes something else entirely.
Though the extent to which individuals agree with these notions vary, we undeniably live in a society that stigmatizes sex work socially and creatively. Have you ever judged a young woman for having an OnlyFans, rather than the men who think purchasing her content gives them the right to harass her? When you hear a woman levy sexual assault allegations against a man, is your opinion altered by the knowledge that she’s a prostitute? Of the times you’ve seen depictions of sex work, especially by male filmmakers, in media, how often is it primarily a young person’s violently graphic trauma being exploited and sensationalized for entertainment rather than understanding?
In a culture that directs so much animosity towards sex workers, especially women, Anora allows one to live out her own unfortunately realistic version of the American Dream. And though certain misguided characters may judge her for it, the film itself, as an art-piece to be critically examined, never judges or righteously punishes the protagonist for her career. Instead, the movie uses it as a means to show how sex workers are well rounded people with dreams, goals, faults, and skills like the rest of us. It may be unsurprising considering this subject matter, but be aware that Anora has an overwhelming amount of nudity and profane language.
Sex work has often been depicted in film as an inherently evil job that one must be ashamed of and will always result in tragedy. Not to say that these notions aren’t based on some true fact, but younger sex workers have started to be less ashamed of their jobs, and like Ani, proud of being damn good at what they’re paid for. The trials and tribulations she experiences don’t occur inherently due to her status as a sex worker, but rather because of the negative stigma associated with sex work projected onto her. And in following such a resilient and confident heroine, Baker directly mocks and attacks these notions, rather than the idea of sex work itself, while taking care not to glorify sex work either, as many influencers have in recent years.
Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just another romance, in the vein of Pretty Woman, because this is first and foremost a comedy. The entire second act is just punchline after punchline, when this extremely unlikely scenario takes an intentionally jarringly realistic turn. Who hasn’t dreamed about falling in love with someone young, rich, beautiful, and a little dumb who will buy you everything your heart desires? But where most romantic comedies end the dream with marriage, Anora still has approximately 90 minutes of runtime left after Ani gets her 4-karat ring.
Madison has earned high praise for her performance, and it’s well-deserved, despite rarely reaching the emotional heights often associated with award-winning roles. Beyond having to bare it all on multiple occasions, Ani is a very physically demanding role, with scenes of athletic feats only strippers with a long tenure could perform, and fight scenes against men twice her size. Her performance is so natural, that it’s so easy to get lost into the strip club fantasy the film opens with. Her Brooklyn (or perhaps, Jersey?) accent isn’t necessarily perfect, but it matches the film’s often-comedic tone and dramatized story.
Admittedly, some of the jokes didn’t land as much as others, but watching this in a theater amongst fifty or so moviegoers made it a much more enjoyable experience than, I imagine, watching alone on a smaller screen. If I had to give one other critique, I would say that Ivan’s parents loom as this big threat throughout the first two acts of the film, and when they finally show up, their presence is very underwhelming, and not nearly as cartoonishly threatening as you’d expect. This may very well be on purpose, but that didn’t shake the slight feeling of disappointment.
Nonetheless this film is a technical marvel, and I won’t complain when it likely gets a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards, and all preceding award shows. The production design is amazing, depicting the contrast between Ani’s home life and the glitz-and-glamor of her Vegas trip with Ivan. There’s some very inspired needle-drops that work perfectly, including Slayyyter’s “Daddy AF” and t.A.T.u.’s “All The Things She Said”. Karren Karaguilan, a long-time Sean Baker collaborator, has some excellent comedic timing as Torros, though the performance that arguably left the most lasting impression on me was Yura Borisov as Igor, who has tons of subtle glances and quiet emotes that speak so much for a character with such little dialogue.
I won’t spoil the final scene of the film, but I will say it’s both brutally raw and brilliantly hopeful. Anora is not the fairytale the Cinderella story usually is, nor is it the tried-and-true sex work tragedy, or even just another romantic-comedy. Baker successfully mixes all three of these tropes into a lesson-learned for Ani herself, above all else. She’s not a perfect person, and you’re not expected to believe she’s unflawed, but she’s ultimately a heroine that’s very easy to identify with. Not only would I recommend seeing this at the theater to enjoy the insanity of the story, and the excellent filmmaking, but to also learn the lessons Ani learns about naivety, psychological defense-mechanisms, trust, and what true affection looks like.
When you’ve been raised for years to vilify women who are openly proud of their bodies and sexuality, especially if they skillfully monetize it, it can be easy to paint them all with a single simple-minded brush of evilness, akin to Disney villains whose only purpose is to be defeated. But Ani’s story shows us to instead direct our attention on the institutions and long-held ideologies in society that influence so much hatred against sex workers, who like Ani, are often just another young person, with many lessons to learn.
Rating: 8/10 Damian Nose Rubs
Locally, Anora is currently screening at Regal theaters in Crossgates Mall and Colonie Center, as well as the Scene One Spectrum 8 Theater. UAlbany students can purchase discounted tickets for Regal theaters from the Student Association in the Campus Center.
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