User reviews

Anora is an early career magnum opus for Sean Baker that continues to destigmatize sex workers and offer some thoughtful class commentary as the uber rich mess around with the lives of others for a good time with no thought about the consequences for them. It's great when it acts like Pretty Woman and only gets better when it shifts gears into Uncut Gems territory with a highly tense second half that's also really funny throughout.

Mikey Madison is everything in a film that's built around her star making performance which confirms she only deserves more leading roles. She's so confident and refuses to back down whilst being endlessly likeable. It makes everything incredibly investing because you just want her to get the fairytale ending she's been promised, making you hold onto the slightest shred of hope even as reality sets in at every turn.

There's a strong cast of supporting characters too. Mark Eydelshteyn makes Ivan seem nice in spite of his obvious flaws before sadly revealing that he is just a spineless spoiled brat. Yura Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan, and Karren Karagulian are a delightful trio who just spend the majority of their screen time dealing with an awful job which quickly morphs into a spectacular comedy of errors so you just feel really bad for them.

Sean Baker's direction is amazing thanks to an air tight grasp of the tone, allowing it to do the big shift gracefully and the striking opening scene set to Take That sets the scene beautifully. His editing is a standout since this is 139 minutes without feeling overly long. The home invasion sequence goes on for a while and it's only a good thing since it keeps escalating and it definitely helps that the middle chunk is an in the moment search across town for Ivan.

I just watched one of the best films of the year. The Athens festival nights have kicked off, and at the opening ceremony, we were lucky enough to catch Anora. And let me tell you, this film absolutely slays. From the very first scene, you're glued to the screen, and that feeling just doesn't let up. As the movie went on, I kept thinking, "Come on, it has to slow down at some point, right? Give us a breather." Nope, no breaks, no dips, not even a hint of slowdown. Anora has one of the best paces I've ever experienced in a movie.

Anora, a sex worker and a tough girl from Brooklyn, meets the son of a Russian oligarch and, in a whirlwind of madness, marries him. But her fairytale quickly turns into a nightmare when the news reaches Russia, and his parents do everything they can to annul their marriage. The lead actress, Mikey Madison, who plays Anora, is an absolute revelation. She effortlessly combines sexiness, femininity, childlike innocence, and toughness in a way that leaves you speechless. She's going to go very, very far, and don't be surprised if you see her nominated for an Oscar. Personally, I'd also give a Best Supporting Actor nomination to Mark Eidelshtein, who plays the Russian son. He's the most entertaining thing I've seen in a long time. Fantastic.

Anora is a punch to the face of the traditional fairytale concept. It's a realistic, violent, raw, funny, and ultimately sweet modern Cinderella story. Only, in the real world, no prince is going to come and save you-you've got to pick up the pieces and lift your head up high yourself.

Sean Baker returns to his wheelhouse of exploring the dingy edges of society. This is a story of tormented love, a fiery look at how a young woman, scraping by as a sex worker in Brooklyn, sees her hopes and dreams become insanely real when she meets her prince charming, the son of a Russian oligarch. Their chemistry is instant and spellbinding. Her life changes dramatically as they get married.

Mikey Madison is miraculous as the young woman whose fairy tale dream comes alive. But unlike Elizabeth Taylor in "Butterfield 8" or Elisabeth Shue in "Leaving Las Vegas", the female protagonist here never becomes the classic hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold. She remains tough as nails, chock full of rage and ready to throw her next punch until the very end. While she never becomes a savory person, her resolve never wanes. She knows how to stick up for herself and rejects with fury those who fail in this regard. It's one of the best performances of the year.

Just when you think you know where this is going, it upends your expectations and proves to be a much more challenging film with a sobering reality at its core. Many have referred to this as partly a comedy. In all honesty, that's a bit of a stretch, notwithstanding a dark sense of humor. Fair warning, this film is pretty taxing on the psyche. You might be exhausted in the end. But it's a memorable film that will leave you in devastated awe. Recommended to the highest degree.

"Anora" is, without a doubt, a deliciously orchestrated chaos, a kind of twisted opera where improvisation reigns supreme, and the rules of traditional cinema were thrown out the window-probably along with the director's sanity. What emerges from this fascinating mess is a raw portrait, full of acidic humor and suffocating sensuality, proving that even the most desperate scenarios can turn into unsettling art when placed in the right hands.

The lead actress, whose performance could easily be compared to lightning striking a powder-filled warehouse, steals the show with an almost disarming naturalness. She lives and breathes the role of a woman shaped by the dense nights of nightclubs, where every word is spoken like a seductive whisper and every movement carries the promise of a secret that may never be revealed. Her accent, tinged with a slightly exotic and almost ironic intonation, is like a minor-key melody that permeates the film, echoing the world of false intimacies and veiled dangers in which her character exists. Her mannerisms-the way she plays with her hair, the gaze that seems to pierce souls, and the calculatedly casual way she moves-say more about her story than any line of dialogue. She doesn't relate to people; she conquers them, manipulates them, consumes them. The result? A cruel and fascinating magnetism that traps both the other characters and the audience in her web.

But what truly makes "Anora" a brilliant experience is the improvisation. Every scene feels on the brink of collapse, like a drunk teetering on a tightrope, and yet there's a visceral energy, a chemistry between the actors that turns the chaos into a spectacle. No script in the world could create the nuances that emerge from the interactions between the characters. It's like watching an emotional boxing match where every punch is as unexpected as it is devastating.

And then there's the underlying theme that runs through the film like a slow poison: the Russian oligarchs and their infiltration into the United States. It's not just a backdrop; it's a grim reminder of how dirty money can corrode everything, from human relationships to societal institutions. These men, with their frozen smiles and fat wallets, aren't just villains; they're symbols of a decadence that Americans-always ready to sell their souls for the promise of power and status-welcome with an almost comical hypocrisy. And the film spares no one. It lays bare the complicity of everyone involved: those who sell out, those who pretend to resist, and even us, the viewers, who delight in the spectacle of this grotesque circus.

"Anora" isn't for everyone. It's a punch to the gut wrapped in silk, a plunge into decadence with laughter along the way. For those with the stomach for it, it's a masterpiece. For the others? Perhaps they're better off sticking to predictable rom-coms and leaving true chaos to those who know how to appreciate it.

Watching this film at the Cannes Film Festival was such a unique experience that I completely lost track of things I usually pay attention to-direction, script, editing, acting, everything. That's when you know a film is truly exceptional!

Sean Baker takes us on another anti-stereotypical journey, one that makes you forget about everything else happening in your life.

I'm incredibly grateful to have had the privilege of watching this masterpiece at Cannes, in the iconic Grand Théâtre Lumière, sitting just a few rows away from the crew.

The 10-minute standing ovation was more than well-deserved-it was electric!

I am not really familiar with Sean Baker as a director. I know he directed a film called "Red Rocket" and another one called "The Florida Project" with Willem Dafoe but I have not seen either of them. This year he won the Palm D'or for the best film at the Cannes Film Festival for his new film "Anora". So I was looking forward to seeing it very much. I just saw it and I was not disappointed.

I loved this movie. Mikey Madison plays the title role of "Anora" who is a stripper and lap dancer in New York City who meets a rich Russian young man who pays her for sex and likes her so much that he pays her to spend a week with him.

Then he asks her to marry him. They go to Las Vegas and get married. Then his parents find out that he got married and try to get the marriage annulled.

The story is pretty simple but the film is very entertaining from beginning to end and the audience I saw it with found it very funny and laughed a lot.

The film is very emotionally involving and I really came to care about the character of Anora played by Mikey Madison. She gives the best performance of the year and I would really like to see her nominated for the Oscar for best actress next year.

Sean Baker is definitely a director to watch and I can't wait to see what he does next. Director Sean Baker and actress Mikey Madison are definitely a match made in movie heaven. This film is excellent.

The first 40 minutes can be quite misleading, likely catching viewers off guard if they enter with the expectation of a romantic narrative.

Once the first act concludes and the second act kicks in, there's a striking shift in both tone and style that I honestly did not see coming.

The comedy is genuinely entertaining, with moments that will have you laughing out loud. Despite serious circumstances, the absurdity of the situations elicits laughter and chuckles.

They have certainly nailed the dark comedy sides of the story.

However, I found the dramatic elements to be less impactful than I had anticipated, leaving me puzzled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback it has garnered from all around.

While Mikey Madison delivered an impressive performance, and fully deserves every praise coming along her way, her character needed more depth to properly flourish. It feels as if the writing intentionally held back on details, leaving the job of contemplation solely to the audience.

I wish that weren't the case.

This movie is about a traumatized and abused child who grows up and perpetuates the cycle of abuse by choosing to work in a strip club. It tells the story of a strong woman who is broken inside and has not healed. The question she asks in one of the final scenes, while watching TV and smoking, reveals that she had become accustomed to being treated that way.

The film also explores how delusional and disrespectful people can become when they possess enormous amounts of power and money.

Finally, it examines men who refuse to grow up, lack responsibility for their unacceptable behavior, and show no empathy-often as a result of receiving little attention or genuine love from their parents.

This is a very captivating movie. I wasn't bored for a single moment. The acting is incredible, the Armenians are hilarious, and I'm so glad they were part of the story.

Also, I fell in love with Igor.

Overrated and boring. Gratuitous nudity and sex scenes with a ton of fluff and fill dialogue. I'm not exactly sure what people were seeing when they gave it a great review, but there was only one solid takeaway from this movie, and that is that Mikey Madison can act. Caveat to that opinion is that specifics of her character can become quite annoying. You'll have to see it to understand exactly what I'm saying without giving any spoilers away. The movie starts out strong and sets itself up pretty well, only to come crashing down not even half way through. If you're not that curious of a movie buff, then you definitely won't regret passing on this one.

Crap. Crap. Crap. Pure garbage. The director needed real producers to guide him. Perhaps if the film were an hour shorter, it might have been interesting. But, even then, with the one-dimensional characters (such as Anora and Ivan) and amateurish storyline, this "film" is second-rate at best. I guarantee you, Anora won't win any awardsbin 2025 and will be long forgotten by this time next year. Shame on Cannes for awarding the movie. It makes me very suspicious of any other award-winner at that festival. It's a complete waste of time and money. Do yourself a favor and watch a real quality comedy and love story such as Pretty Woman.

The hype surrounding Anora is colossal, and it delivered.

I had no idea what to expect going into it, aside from combining all three of Sean Baker's other movies in my head and thinking maybe it will be somewhere in the middle of all of them (The Florida Project, Red Rocket, and Tangerine - all great movies by the way, and all about sex workers). It had some similar tones and focuses, but otherwise Anora was a new beast of its own. I will say that towards the meat of the film, it got WAY more Safdie Brothers than I was expecting! A lot of people yelling over each other for a very long time! Very tense!

The movie sort of moves in three acts, as many great films do. I was getting the feeling towards the beginning it was going to feel a bit like Boogie Nights in structure, and I would say that that was pretty spot on. You have your party, your conflict, and your conclusion. Without saying too much about it, I will say that the ending made the entire movie for me, and my girlfriend agreed. You have a 2-hour experience that is mostly funny and mostly riveting, that all feels a little pulpy while still offering a lot of very on-point details on the sex work experience, but it all feels for-fun until you get to the ending. Rather than an ending that wraps things up nicely in a pretty little bow, it's an ending that unties the bow, and opens the box, and leaves you with the RAW reality of it all. I was a bit in awe taking in the very specific energy of the packed room as the silent credits hit and people very slowly began making their way (very quietly) out of the auditorium.

Mikey Madison is fantastic as Anora. Seeing the ads for the film, I expected a bubbly, sweet girl - but she plays a hard, sassy, hustler who is VERY New York City, and it was a pleasant surprise. Anora is a mostly likable character, but not always, and that only adds to her humanity and the overall realism and complexity of her functionality as a main character. You will experience a rollercoaster of ups and downs with her, and the depth feels very real. She is also extremely HOT and there's ALOT of SEX in this movie.

The whole cast is fantastic, but new faces Mark Eidelshtein and Yura Borisov make the strongest imprints as capable actors who deserve much more casting in the future. Eidelshtein stole the show as the most believable rich boy on a rampage ever, and Borisov's nuanced presence was loud AF without the need for many words.

I definitely think this is one of Baker's two finest films thus far, perhaps his best, and one of the best films of 2024. It's really great to see how well this movie is doing. The house was totally packed on a Monday night at 9:30 PM, and I hear it's opening weekend numbers were some of the highest this year. This is the kind of original, sincere, relevant filmmaking that needs to be seen, celebrated, and supported, and it's a joy to see it happening. I'm excited to see Mikey Madison's career bloom after this, and can't wait for more from Sean Baker.

There's a lot of Oscar buzz around this dark but realistic story about a woman from Brooklyn and a man from Russia. There's enough realism here that it gets scary at times and feels both believable and absurd. The acting is very genuine and authentic, and the storyline might even be based on a true story. There are enough times that the movie takes the non-Hollywood route that it feels authentic and realistic to the point of being scary. But at the end of the day, it's human story about the good, the bad, and the ugly side of humanity. The film is not for everyone, it is intense, dark, and not for the faint of heart.

There's a lass, I'd have to say, you can't ignore her - working in a place with fascinating fauna, makes a living, just gets by, you can take her for a ride, if you're lucky you may get, to see her flora. An opportunist, she has an arsenal to deploy, knows a good thing when she meets a Russian boy, they enjoy some fun and frolics, they exchange lots of hydraulics, then word gets back to those, who are killjoys. So a dogleg's then deployed, plot rearranges, and the humour ratchets up as well as rages, guardians begin to prise, pulling apart the binds and ties, in a film that truly stuns, often amazes.

Great performances all round, wonderful cinematography, and a script full of magic.

I was really taken by the final scene. I genuinely learned mare about Ani's character in those last few minutes than the rest of the film combined.

The sheer amount of gratuitous softcore porn in the opening act was such a blatant contrast to that moment of vulnerability. While this contrast was an obvious directorial decision, I frankly hate it. The film would have been a decent comedy without that masterful scene. This film could have been a masterful drama without the humor. The film would have been more tolerable if edited for time.

This film is what happens when a great chef tries to use every spice on the rack. The result is overwhelming and unpalatable.

It can be rated as 1 for some or 10 for anothers.

It can be a film noir, it can be a dark comedy, It can be a romantic comedy, a screwball comedy, A drama, a stand up comedy, a docudrama, You feel decadecy, it can be hilarious, it can be sick or completely ridiculous.

Depending on the values that construct your personality.

You may love it or hate it.

We are empathic beeings with the need to feel, share and belong.

But we also have the need to survive, exist and search for knowledge.

The values that we acquire are builded so we act always normal but mentality sick.

Without excaping the reality that we are all humans.

A must watch with an open mind. If you watch it twice you may feel different sensations.

Way too much of this movie's two hours is taken up with watching a fairly repulsive young couple -- an overprivileged Russian billionaire's sex-and-drug-crazed son and the brassy "sex worker" of the title -- getting it on in various ways and settings. They're both incredibly shallow, stupid, and greedy, though at least you get the sense that she hasn't enjoyed the easy life that he's had. Despite her occupation, she retains a certain believable naïveté.

That's the boring part of the movie. It goes on far too long.

The dumbest part involves the boy's three improbably clownish Russian handlers, who, in what's obviously meant to be a funny scene, behave like actors in a slapstick comedy. It doesn't work at all.

If you don't bail out at that point (as I was tempted to do), you'll find the final portion somewhat more satisfying.

It flies by with a certain brilliance and salty humor during the first 3 quarters of an hour of the film, after that, you get bored stiff for almost an hour due to the lack of a captivating scenario, then we end up with a rather unpleasant melodrama.

Too much length, really: the director seems to have been sooooo satisfied with his actors that he didn't cut several interminable and very boring periods of tracking between the different protagonists. This is really the film's biggest weak point: the director gets drunk on his own virtuosity and ends up telling nothing exciting. Too bad.

Yet it is this film that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year...