Summary
A raw, provocative character study elevated by Mikey Madison’s performance, though its exploitative gaze and repetitive themes undermine its emotional depth.
Following The Florida Project and Red Rocket, Sean Baker had set a high bar for himself, and ANORA seemed to rise to the occasion when it snagged the Palme d’Or at Cannes earlier this year. Yet, while the film brims with Baker’s signature style, it also reveals cracks in his approach, occasionally veering from lyrical observation into exploitative voyeurism.
Baker wastes no time establishing the tone, opening the film with an unflinching, intimate look at exotic dancer Anora (Mikey Madison)—or Ani, as she prefers to be called. The camera lingers on her private performances and the transactional moments in back rooms with clients. It’s a provocative opening, one that sets the stage for Ani’s journey, but it immediately raises questions about whether Baker’s gaze is empathetic or merely indulgent.
That question seems to find its answer in the frenetic energy of the film’s first act. The arrival of rich kid Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian Oligarch, plunges Ani into a whirlwind week of indulgence and excess. Baker leans into the chaos, punctuating the edit with seemingly gratuitous sex scenes, mirroring Ivan’s reckless abandon—like his boyish glee while rolling on the bed, eager for his first paid encounter with Ani. The segment culminates in a quickie Vegas wedding, where the film abruptly pivots.
Once Ivan’s parents catch wind of the impulsive nuptials, they dispatch his godfather Toros (Karren Karagulian) alongside henchmen Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov) to force an annulment. Chaos ensues as Ivan bolts, leaving Ani screaming and the hired muscle scrambling across town in pursuit of the petulant groom.
As virtually any discussion of ANORA will tell you, Mikey Madison is the undeniable star here. No matter how much punishment the script hurls at her—and it’s lamentably quite a bit—she remains nothing less than raw and genuine. Spending much of the lengthy runtime in a state of perpetual distress, Ani’s escalating calamities echo the relentless spiral of Red Rocket’s protagonist. Yet, this familiarity breeds a sense of repetition, as if the film, like Ani herself, refuses to let the night end because it knows the fragile supports will collapse in daylight.
It’s also around this point that you might question whether Anora as a character is stretched a little too thin. Baker has a knack for crafting deeply flawed leads, with Simon Rex’s Red Rocket antihero being a prime example. (Though, let’s face it, the humour in Red Rocket leaned uncomfortably on the predatory undertones of an older man grooming a teenager). Here, Baker populates ANORA with few, if any, likeable characters, and while Madison imbues Ani with fire and fury, the role lacks the layered humanity of Bria Vinaite’s Halley in The Florida Project. The only exception comes in a few awkwardly tender moments from Borisov, but even these are fleeting.
Ultimately, ANORA is a tightly focused character study driven by a powerhouse performance, but it runs out of meaningful things to say about its subject. By the film’s final moments, Ani’s decisions and emotional fractures cry out for a nuanced understanding of women’s experiences, something Baker’s semi-exploitative gaze can’t quite provide. Perhaps, in the end, Baker’s penchant for provocation has overshadowed the story he set out to tell.
2024 | USA | DIRECTOR: Sean Baker | WRITERS: Sean Baker | CAST: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Aleksei Serebryakov, Darya Ekamasova | DISTRIBUTOR: Kismet (Australia), Neon (USA) | RUNNING TIME: 139 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 26 December 2024 (Australia), 18 October 2024 (USA)
