'Anora': A Fairytale Only Sean Baker Could Tell

Throughout his career, Sean Baker has focused his lens on characters often left out of the mainstream, providing intimate looks at the lives of those marginalized or considered outsiders. Sex workers are some of his main subjects, and the independent filmmaker doesn’t stray away from that with his latest work. Anora continues to see Baker destigmatizing sex work and telling a story in an honest yet nonjudgemental and non-exploitative way. He creates stirring pictures that are always imbued with humor no matter the subject, taking his audience on often heartfelt and fulfilling journeys. Anora is another such journey, or more of a wild odyssey, as its titular character desperately clings to her Cinderella story. Anora is a rush of romance, rough-and-tumble action, and brilliant slapstick comedy. It’s a fairytale that is so entertaining from start to finish as you wait for the clock to strike twelve and the reality of life to set in.

Take That’s “Greatest Day” sets the tone as strippers dance under neon lights. Ani (short for Anora and played by Mikey Madison) works that space, greeting customers and immediately drawing the audience in with the persona she creates for the job. There’s a sense of glamour in this setting, even a sense of power as men empty their large pockets in Ani and the other dancer’s presence. In contrast, when she goes home at the end of her shift to her Brooklyn apartment, rattled constantly by the adjacent subway, there’s much to be desired.

She’s soon swept out of her mundane everyday life when she meets the young Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn). Now, Ani is not the kind of character who needs a prince to come and rescue her, but she does find herself in a fairytale when the Russian oligarch’s son asks her to be his girlfriend for the week. Ivan isn’t the kind of patron she’s used to dealing with, so he intrigues her. And she’s happy to take thousands of dollars for what is, at first, a transactional relationship with plenty of sex. As one can easily predict, though, feelings start to develop, resulting in a visit to a Little White Chapel in Las Vegas. It’s all too good to be true for a girl who last week was grinding on old men for a dollar and is now surrounded by more wealth than she could have ever dreamed of.

However, like most fairytales, something threatens this love story. When Ivan’s parents learn of the marriage, they take the long flight from Russia to try to get it annulled. Sent to make sure the newlyweds stay put in the meantime are Ivan’s father’s goons: Toros (Karren Karagulian, a frequent collaborator of Baker’s), Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov). Ani and Ivan prove to be too much to handle as the operation goes off the rails. Ivan escapes and Ani stands ferocious and defiant (with a killer hook) against their threats. Her life is suddenly thrown into chaos and you wonder if she can keep this fairytale alive.

Anora feels like the perfect combination of screwball comedy and New Hollywood cinema. It feels very ’70s in both style and sensibility. How it plays with color and light elevates every setting and it’s a film that feels grounded in its cinematography. It has a natural fluidity in dialogue and composition that feels almost docu-style, like the 1970s taste for realism. It’s also New Hollywood in that it’s adventurous with its narrative and captures characters on the fringes of society. It also proves to be a fantastic screwball showcase in its writing and performances, especially from Madison. The scene in which Ani and Ivan are confronted by the three Russian goons includes all the screwball musts like fast-paced dialogue, a physical battle of the sexes and simply playing on the humor of the ridiculous hunt that ensues for Ivan. Madison meets the repartee of someone like Carole Lombard or Rosalind Russell, which takes the film’s comedy to further heights.

Anora wouldn’t work without chemistry between its leads, and luckily Madison and Eydelshteyn have plenty of it. Madison finally gets the leading role she deserves after making such a big impact in films like Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and 2022’s Scream. She doesn’t go up in flames this time around, but her performance is, as the kids say, fire. She delivers a star-making turn here, showcasing both playfulness and vulnerability. There could have been greater depth and backstory for her character, but it’s fascinating to watch her evolve as the story shifts. Eydelshteyn, a relative unknown in America, quickly charms the audience, as his character does with Ani. He plays Ivan with an infectious energy and carefreeness that immediately attracts Ani to him and his lifestyle. Because of his wealth, he can easily have whatever he wants, but can easily throw things away. The audience sees the warning signs before Ani can under her rosy perspective. His actions are guided by youthful impulsivity, which is an exhilarating kind of freedom he can’t hold onto forever.

The relationship between Ani and Ivan guides the film’s tone and it shifts in unexpected ways. Just when you think you’ve settled into the rhythm of a romantic comedy, it turns into a darker kind of caper story. The freedom and euphoria present in the film is contagious until it’s pulled right out from under you. Anora is poignant and allegorically represents the American Dream. Both Ani and Ivan, like many in America, find a life they struggle to hold on to. Unrealist ideas are fed and reality hits you like a ton of bricks when you realize that the pumpkin will never (or will never again) turn into a golden carriage.