Anora

Anora “Ani” Mikheeva (Mikey Madison) is a street-smart sex worker living in a small house with her sister in Brighton Beach. A talented stripper at the HQ nightclub in New York City, she’s popular among customers and her co-workers, able to mouth off anyone in her way — as she often does with rival stripper Diamond (Lindsey Normington). She is shown to be able to support herself, making good-enough money considering her strict boss, yet there’s clearly something missing.

Maybe that’s why she falls so hard for Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the young Russian-born playboy that pops into her club one random night. Being the only worker there that speaks Russian, she gets along okay with the customer to get some extra hundreds from him, but then gives him her number. Next thing she knows, she’s standing in the middle of a lavish mansion owned by someone who has a dab pen behind his ear. 

For the first third of “Anora,” the relationship between Ani and Ivan remains unclear. It’s obvious why Vanya would be into the attractive stripper, but what does Ani see in him? Does she go along with his horniness to get extra money, effectively becoming a prostitute? Is it the excessively nice-looking house, complete with maids and a TV that comes out of a cabinet? Or is it simply Vanya’s non-threatening, boyish charm? Despite the surface-level immaturity, there seems to be more to him that only Ani can see.

She becomes seduced by his free-spirit lifestyle. Days turn into weeks as she is paid to live with him, going from spending time watching him play “Call of Duty” to a spontaneous trip to Vegas after a member of Vanya’s posse said that’s where the best ketamine is. This is also where they decide to get married. 

For Ivan, it’s a green-card marriage that will make him an American citizen. For Ani, a chance to escape from her life in New York and live in luxury.

To Ani and director Sean Baker, she gets to live her Cinderella story, a point made clear by one of her co-workers literally comparing her to the princess once she comes back to HQ to show off her four-carat ring. Of course, this is coming from the director of “Red Rocket” and “The Florida Project” — the presentation of “Anora” is intentionally flashy, including multiple sex scenes and an authentic look into the world of sex work. The only difference is in Drew Daniels’ cinematography, replacing the handheld indie style of Baker’s previous work with cinematic wide-angles. But like his other films, “Anora” doesn’t spend much time getting itself lost in its own dream scenario. 

Once Ani and Ivan have a Vegas wedding, the news comes out to his parents in Russia. All of a sudden, goons force themselves into Vanya’s home and Prince Charming runs out the door, leaving Cinderella to pick up the pieces. 

Now having to work with henchmen Toros (Karren Karagulian), Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisav) to find her missing husband before his parents come to annul their marriage, Ani reflects on Vanya’s immaturity as the film itself sobers up to reality. Gone is the care-free, passive tone. It’s now replaced with a grueling journey through New York filled with “Uncut Gems”-level chaos.

Read the rest of this article at The Webster Journal - https://ive.90c.myftpupload.com/2024/11/13/anora-is-an-all-american-fairy-tale/