“When you give me health insurance, workers’ comp and a 401K, then you can tell me when I work.”
This specific quote is said by the titular character of “Anora,” the newest film from acclaimed filmmaker Sean Baker.
The winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, “Anora” follows Anora “Ani” Mikheeva (played by Mikey Madison), a sex worker who works as a stripper at a club named Headquarters in Brooklyn. Ani is also the only stripper at the club who speaks Russian and is constantly feuding with fellow stripper Diamond (played by Lindsey Normington).
Ani’s life soon changes one night when she first encounters Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov (Mark Eidelstein), the son of the prominent, powerful Russian oligarch Nikolai Zakharov. They immediately hit it off, resulting in an impromptu marriage one night in Las Vegas. Not soon afterward, Toros (played by Karren Karagulian), an Armenian handler, and his two goons Igor (played by Yura Borisov) and Garnick (played by Vache Tovmasyan), arrive at the mansion where Ani and Vanya are living, demanding their marriage to be annulled, as an order from Vanya’s mother.
As Anora, Mikey Madison delivers a career-best performance as the main character, delivering some of the film’s funniest lines (especially in the second act of the film) and most heartbreaking moments. Madison embodies this determined character with several motivations and brings her to life, right down to nailing the distinctive Brooklyn accent. Her performance is easily one of the best of the year, with this film serving as a showcase as to why she is one of the best actors working right now.
With his latest film, writer-director Sean Baker crafts a film that blends a romantic comedy with drama. Like his previous film, 2021’s “Red Rocket” (which also competed at the Cannes Film Festival that year), Baker focuses on sex workers, a facet of this country that has long been either underseen or inaccurately portrayed in American cinema, except this time, he focuses on a sympathetic protagonist.
He delivers a film that is more story-driven than character-driven. Along with this aspect, Baker also blends genres, with the second act morphing into his take on a screwball comedy (with some elements of slapstick thrown in) with multiple characters talking over one another, along with the combative nature between Ani and the goons.
This is especially true when it comes to Ani’s responses to the goons and Toros (the latter of which happens to be hilariously on speakerphone for the majority of the sequence). Baker also writes hilarious and tragic screenplay, with brilliant lines of dialogue featured throughout the film The Safdie Brothers’ 2019 anxiety-ridden crime film, “Uncut Gems,” with the mere chaos that happens in the short span of a week.
Drew Daniels, who previously worked with Baker on “Red Rocket,” returns as the cinematographer for this film — capturing a side of New York that is rarely seen on film today, with shots that are also comparable to “Uncut Gems.” Some of these shots include a medium shot of Vanya walking into one of the rooms of Headquarters, with the color palette containing splashes of reds and blues — which encompasses the interior of Headquarters during the majority of the scenes there. There is also a stunning wide shot of Ani and the goons walking on the Coney Island boardwalk at night.
Another standout element of the film is its soundtrack, which includes songs such as the Robin Schulz remix of the Take That track, Greatest Day, which serves as the musical accompaniment of the opening sequence, immediately submerging the viewer into Ani’s world. “Anora” also features one of the best needle drops of the year, with that being t.A.T.u.’s All the Things She Said, prominently featured in a scene in the second act at Headquarters.
With “Anora,” Sean Baker crafts an incredibly hilarious and downright depressing film, blending elements of screwball comedy and tense drama into one wild ride of a film. “Anora” is a showcase of Mikey Madison in one of the year’s standout performances with a career-best performance. Along with fantastic cinematography and a truly fitting soundtrack, “Anora” is another example of why Sean Baker is one of the best American filmmakers working right now.
Love is indeed a hustle.
“Anora” is now playing in theaters.
