Anora | Fresh Takes
Fresh takes and film reviews from new voices in film.
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This time, we sent our team of writers to meet Anora: Sean Baker's Palme d'Or-winning comedy-drama sees Scream queen Mikey Madison give a star-making performance as a Brooklyn sex worker, whose entanglement with a Russian oligarch's son makes for a gloriously chaotic twist on a Cinderella story.
Izzy, 22
Izzy is a blogger and reviewer of all things film and literature. She adores films that prioritise women's voices and loves catching the newest independent releases. Find more of her writing at @izzykxte.
Izzy says...
Anora is a rollercoaster of emotions: both one of the funniest and saddest films of the year. At times, Sean Baker's newest release feels like a slapstick comedy, yet you're left feeling emotional by its heartbreaking tonal shifts and Mikey Madison's career-defining performance.
As we follow the titular main character through the highs and lows of her job in the sex work industry, the film shows us the hard truth of what it takes to live the 'American dream'. Baker's representation of Brooklyn creates a visceral experience, where New York plays a character within the film and sweeps us up in the whirlwind journey at the core. The addition of bright neon colours, road trip scenes, and fast-paced, witty dialogue is instrumental in the rush of adrenaline that the audience experiences.
The risks taken with the grand comedy scenes in Anora work so well because of how great the cast is. Every supporting character is dynamic in their own right, but Madison shines so bright as Anora. The emphatic persona she puts on for work and her humility towards the end of the film is expertly portrayed, showing her humanity throughout.
Anora is an unconventional Cinderella story that perfectly explores the intersection of class and love in modern America.
Renuka, 24
Renuka is a researcher by day with an amateur interest in scriptwriting. She relishes in a meaty drama or a thriller, but slice-of-life comedies are what sustain her.
Renuka says...
Anora expertly and consistently defies all audience expectations. While its trailers and promos made it seem like a typical coming-of-age romance, what starts as a story of an erotic dancer entertaining a Russian oligarch – I felt the familiar Pretty Woman tropes kick in – quickly takes a left turn.
Framing is everything. Even as we see Mikey Madison's Ani thrust into increasingly dangerous situations, we as the audience are primed to find the comedy in the absurdity of it all. Its cast has excellent comedic chemistry: I absolutely loved the direction and cinematography. Every frame is so chock full of details – you blink and you miss the utter chaos in the background. The start of its second act left me wondering if this even is Ani's story at all, as it turns into a manhunt a la The Hangover, but this is where Anora subverts all expectations.
We have seen Ani as a resilient and resourceful character, whose driving force has been an almost naïve hopefulness in fighting for what she believes in. Most references to the imperfect love Ani has known – apathetic (her mother), selfish (her sister) and transactional (HQ) – have been in throwaway lines or comedic scenes. But in the final act, the film brings down its comedic veil, exposing these raw emotional undercurrents. Anora had the audience laughing throughout, only for the climax to shock us to a stunned, poignant silence.
