May 25, 2025 The Newspaper Serving LGBT Los Angeles

Film Review: Anora

By Dolores Quintana

Anora is writer and director Sean Baker’s newest punch to the cinematic consciousness. It is a chaotic fairytale where Cinderella has a powerful right hook and an equally powerful heart.  It’s like cinematic cocaine and only in the best sense. 

There is a real excitement around the film and I can assure you that the excitement is very real and comes from Baker’s powerful filmmaking and insights about the human character. 

You can watch the Red Band trailer here: 

Here is the synopsis: Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

Baker has not only an amazing understanding of human needs and foibles, but he champions those who society normally looks down on. With Anora, he is taking on one of the most easily disparaged groups: erotic dancers and sex workers. 

It is easy to be contemptuous of young women who undertake this profession and scorn has been heaped upon them from time immemorial. Baker has put a sex worker who is an exceptionally strong and uncompromising woman who doesn’t tolerate being disparaged at the center of the narrative. 

Mikey Madison plays Anora/Ani, Mark Eydelshteyn plays Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov, Yura Borisov plays Igor, Karren Karagulian plays Toros, Vache Tovmasyan plays Garnick, Ivy Wolk plays Crystal, and Aleksei Serebryakov plays Nikolai Zakharov.

The film is like every wild night you’ve ever had where things are larger than life and so amazing that you wish every day could be like that, but you know it never could. If you’ve never had that type of chaos in your life, it’s addicting and intoxicating. It might be the reason people do drugs. They need that kind of excitement, eternally. But that’s why I called it cinematic cocaine, on the upswing of the narrative, it has an exhilarating high that takes the audience and the viewer on a ride, unlike most films. It is filled with authentic joy.

Baker has totally captured that kind of high on film, that feeling of being young, gorgeous, rich, and that you will never have to pay the bill, running from excess to wild adventure. The world is yours. 

Mikey Madison, who made her mark in Better Things, Scream, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a star. Her Ani/Anora, who refuses to go by her more ethnic name, glows with beauty and charm, but under her tough shell, has real warmth and tenderness that she guards fiercely. She yearns for more. Her performance is not the cliche so long beloved by Hollywood screenwriters about women of her profession. She’s a real person and it goes a long way towards showing the audience that the women of her vocation are people. You can see why Ivan falls for her and how she gently begins to trust.

Mark Eydelshteyn as Ivan is at first charismatic and commanding, but much more fragile and ruined than he first appears. He is a man who creates wreckage by playing with people like toys because he doesn’t have the spine he thinks he has. 

Another character that is so memorable is the sad-eyed Igor played by Yura Borisov. He’s quiet but Borisov slowly peels away the character’s layers of goodness and decency. He’s not what Hollywood would write as the usual henchman either. 

Sean Baker has taken characters that normally are cliches and expands them with humanity and grace. Nearly everyone is multi-layered and someone that you can empathize with even when they are doing things that are not good or good for them. 

More than that, Baker brings out the natural comedy of the situation and the film is frequently hilarious and sometimes tragicomic, but it’s never at the expense of the characters. His vision is unclouded by the tired tropes. He writes and directs living and breathing human beings and you can tell he does not look down on them, especially Ani and her friends.

There’s a reason why the film won the Palme d’Or, the first American film to win the prize since 2011. 

Anora is the fragile human soul wrapped in a Russian sable, suffused with hope that can roar into blinding rage. It is the story of those who are shot into the sky to be beautiful and self-destruct for rich men’s amusement or evolve into something new. Who really has the power and what is the real currency? Money might be able to buy you a good time, but it can never give you that tender core of goodness and mercy.

Sean Baker’s powerful filmmaking has the magic to bring empathy to those who society stigmatizes. Indeed, Anora is the empathy machine that Roger Ebert spoke of not too long ago.

Related Posts

West Hollywood Releases Transit and Parking Details Ahead of WeHo Pride 2025

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Santa Monica Boulevard to Close for Weekend-Long Celebration May 30–June 1 The City of West Hollywood has released transportation and...

Man Accused of Stalking Jennifer Aniston Ruled Incompetent to Stand Trial

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Stalking Suspect Says He’s Fit for Trial After Initial Psychiatric Evaluation Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, a Mississippi man accused of stalking...

The Grove to Host Patriotic Tribute for 250th Anniversary of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps During LA Fleet Week

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Friday’s Celebration Will Feature Flyovers, Live Music, Military Displays, and Family-Friendly Activities The Grove will welcome the United States Navy...

Prosecutors Weigh Hate Crime Charges After Lesbian Woman Beaten at Illinois McDonald’s

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Kady Grass Suffered Serious Injuries in Alleged Anti-LGBTQ+ Assault Authorities in Kane County, Illinois, are considering filing hate crime charges...

Governor Announces Early Reopening of Pacific Coast Highway After Wildfire Closures

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Major Stretch of PCH Reopens May 23 After Months of Wildfire-Related Closures Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that State Route...

Nikó Sando and Malou Coffee & Kitchen Are the Newest Additions to Brentwood’s Food Scene

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

The Duo of New Eateries Offers Refined Japanese Sandōs and Globally Influenced Coffee Brentwood has welcomed two exciting new additions...

Dawn Richard Testifies Diddy Assaulted Cassie Ventura at a WeHo Restaurant in 2010

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Combs Hit Cassie “Hard” in Front of Usher and Ne-Yo, Says Danity Kane Star Singer and former Danity Kane member...

Exclusive Interview with Cardinale du Vin’s New Chef-in-Residence Paul Chuanchaisit

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

The Westside Wine Bar Expands Its Culinary Horizons With a Bold New Menu By Dolores Quintana Cardinale du Vin is...

Memorial Day Weekend in L.A.: Rosé, Beach BBQs, and Brunches Ring in the Summer

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

The Westside Is Packed With Culinary Events, Pop-Ups, and Parties This Weekend Angelenos looking to kick off the summer season...

(Video) Interview with Chef Roy Choi for his new book The Choi of Cooking

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

We speak with the world-famous Socal Chef in Manhattan Beach at the Los Angeles Public Library.

FDA Probes Salmonella Outbreak Tied to Recalled Cucumbers Distributed in California

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

At Least 26 People Sickened and 9 Hospitalized in Multiple States  Federal health officials are investigating a multistate outbreak of...

Thieves Use Cars to Smash Into Fairfax Stores in String of High-End Burglaries

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

LAPD Investigates String of Vehicle-Driven Break-Ins at Specialty Boutiques Storeowners in the Fairfax District are grappling with concerns about safety...

State Farm Seeks New Insurance Rate Hikes for California Homeowners and Renters

May 20, 2025

May 20, 2025

Insurer Aims to Raise Premiums by up to 52% for Some Policyholders by 2026 Just one week after receiving approval...

Mayor Bass Launches Major Initiative to Boost Film Production in Los Angeles After Years of Neglect

May 20, 2025

May 20, 2025

Facing Industry Setbacks, L.A. Rolls Out Plan to Attract On-Location Shoots In a renewed effort to preserve Los Angeles’ status...

Lisa Vanderpump, Ken Todd Settle Labor Lawsuit with Former Pump Employees for $490K

May 20, 2025

May 20, 2025

Judge Approves Final Class-Action Settlement in Long-Running Wage Dispute Lisa Vanderpump and her husband, Ken Todd, have reached a final...