Written & Directed By Sean Baker; Starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Aleksei Serebryakov.
Anora follows the beleaguered marriage of Anora Mikheeva (Mikey Madison), a high-priced Brooklyn stripper, and Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch (Aleksei Serebryakov). This is the latest from acclaimed indie filmmaker Sean Baker. His previous work consists of 2000’s Four Letter Words, 2004’s Take Out, 2008’s Prince of Broadway, 2012’s Starlet, 2015’s Tangerine, 2017’s The Florida Project, and 2021’s Red Rocket.
With this movie, Sean Baker has crafted a story with multiple tones. The first act is basically a character study that feels very energetic. The second act is where things not only really start to get intriguing, but it also really had me on the edge of my seat. The third act kind of mirrors what the title character is going through by the end. On paper, it sounds like a struggle to balance all of them out. Yet, Baker as writer, director, and editor manages to pull it off.
In the titular role, Mikey Madison gives a spunky performance overall. Although as the film progresses, her character becomes much more humanized. All of this results in such mesmerizing work. Her onscreen relationship with Mark Eydelshteyn has quite an arc. It starts out as very horny, then transitions into something romantic, then goes in a completely different direction. I never would've guessed how things were going to turn out for them. Other highlights of the cast are Karren Karagulian as an Armenian handler named Toros, who is employed by Vanya’s father to look after him, and Yura Borisov as Igor, his Russian henchman.
Anora succeeds in so many areas. It’s enjoyable, funny, unpredictable, and empathetic. The movie itself may not be for everyone, but I myself did get a kick out of it. As someone who only saw one of Baker’s previous films, The Florida Project, and didn’t care for it, I’m glad to say that I liked this one more. Not to mention that seeing it projected on 35mm film was quite a treat.
Rating: 4/5
Anora follows the beleaguered marriage of Anora Mikheeva (Mikey Madison), a high-priced Brooklyn stripper, and Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch (Aleksei Serebryakov). This is the latest from acclaimed indie filmmaker Sean Baker. His previous work consists of 2000’s Four Letter Words, 2004’s Take Out, 2008’s Prince of Broadway, 2012’s Starlet, 2015’s Tangerine, 2017’s The Florida Project, and 2021’s Red Rocket.
With this movie, Sean Baker has crafted a story with multiple tones. The first act is basically a character study that feels very energetic. The second act is where things not only really start to get intriguing, but it also really had me on the edge of my seat. The third act kind of mirrors what the title character is going through by the end. On paper, it sounds like a struggle to balance all of them out. Yet, Baker as writer, director, and editor manages to pull it off.
In the titular role, Mikey Madison gives a spunky performance overall. Although as the film progresses, her character becomes much more humanized. All of this results in such mesmerizing work. Her onscreen relationship with Mark Eydelshteyn has quite an arc. It starts out as very horny, then transitions into something romantic, then goes in a completely different direction. I never would've guessed how things were going to turn out for them. Other highlights of the cast are Karren Karagulian as an Armenian handler named Toros, who is employed by Vanya’s father to look after him, and Yura Borisov as Igor, his Russian henchman.
Anora succeeds in so many areas. It’s enjoyable, funny, unpredictable, and empathetic. The movie itself may not be for everyone, but I myself did get a kick out of it. As someone who only saw one of Baker’s previous films, The Florida Project, and didn’t care for it, I’m glad to say that I liked this one more. Not to mention that seeing it projected on 35mm film was quite a treat.
Rating: 4/5