The film begins with a slo-mo compilation of fishnets, tiny tops, dollar bills and sleazy men. Ani dances on client after client, she’s dressed up with pretty pink strands of glitter in her hair, a flirty character and a fake smile. Though these imitations of intimacy are purely transactional, Ani takes pride in making it as real as possible. So, even when she’s forced to end her lunch break early to look after a Russian client who’s flashing a fat wad of cash; the façade never falls and she approaches him with a sweet smile- like it is her who should be grateful to be in his presence.
He’s called Ivan or ‘Vanya’ (the fantastic first-time actor Mark Eydelshteyn) and after a few drinks and a lap dance the pair seem to hit it off well and he wants to see her again. He’s the type of guy we’ve all seen: a mop of brown hair, PlayStation controller in one hand, vape in the other- never to be seen without those godforsaken bedazzled zip-up hoodies and jeans 5 sizes too big. Sean Baker does a fantastic job at playing into what is funny and culturally relevant to his younger audiences. Ani gives him her number and their tornado of a romance (if you can even call it that) begins. Eventually, she discovers that Vanya’s reckless and youthful charm is actually because he is the insanely spoiled teenage son of a Russian Oligarch. He offers her $15,000 of his parent’s money to move into their Brighton Beach mansion and be his girlfriend for the week- she accepts. Days of alcohol, drugs, spending, sex and PlayStation go by and Vanya flies Ani and his friends out to Vegas- driving them even further away from reality.
After a shotgun wedding and with a 4-carat diamond ring on her finger Ani returns to New York, quits her job, and is ready to begin life with her ‘prince charming’. However, the news reaches Russia, and Vanya’s politically powerful parents are furious that he married a sex worker. They send their local fixer Toros (Karren Karagulian) and his two henchmen Garnik (Vache Tovmasyan- who often stole the show) and Igor (Yuri Borisov) to annul the marriage and whisk Ivan away. After the couple’s whirlwind tour around hotels, casinos and nightclubs, Baker takes the film in an even more chaotic direction- the film has a huge amount of humour and the cast is a perfect comedic ensemble that I can’t recommend you go see unfold for yourself enough!
in amongst bawdy and often slapstick humour is a touching story of a young woman’s optimism in a world that keeps beating her down. We see many young women reflected in her- a longing for softness, comfort and vulnerability.
The Chaos is driven by Ani’s determination to fight for the life she believes she deserves. If you didn’t already love her before everything started going wrong, her resolve will surely make you. I really enjoyed my time with the film, ‘Anora’ is beautifully acted, and Mikey Madison, was show-stopping throughout. A future award-winner for sure, you could tell just how much she put into her character. As Ani is demeaned throughout the film for her profession, it becomes clear she will never fit in Ivan’s world- in amongst bawdy and often slapstick humour is a touching story of a young woman’s optimism in a world that keeps beating her down. We see many young women reflected in her- a longing for softness, comfort and vulnerability.
Despite this, I still left the cinema feeling a little disappointed, as if I were never given the time to get to know Ani beyond her sex work and this bizarre situation she fell into. ‘Ani’ is the identity she wears like armour, we only catch glimpses of Anora here and there. At times she seemed ‘street-smart’ and others like a wide-eyed Cinderella character clinging onto the idea of her very own prince charming. We are both in our early twenties- I sit writing film reviews in my pyjamas and she- is an exotic dancer from Brooklyn. Why are our lives so different and how did she get there?
Much like Ani at the end of the film, we’re left on the doorstep of the cinema, bags in hand dazzled by all that we’ve seen but left wondering how to move on.
'Anora' is currently screening at Tyneside Cinema- head over to check it out!
