ANORA : Tuesday 25th February 2025

I finally got around to seeing the critically lauded, highly praised and multi-award winning MA15+ Rated 'ANORA' earlier this week. This American comedy drama film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Edited by Sean Baker whose prior feature film credits include his 2000 debut with 'Four Letter Words' and then the likes of 'The Prince of Broadway' in 2008, 'Tangerine' in 2015, 'The Florida Project' in 2017 and 'Red Rocket' in 2021. This film saw its World Premiere at last years Cannes Film Festival in late May where it garnered much critical acclaim, a ten minute post-screening standing ovation and won the festivals prestigious Palme d'Or Award. It was released in the US in mid-October last year and has so far grossed US$38M from a production budget of just US$6M. It has also collected 128 award wins and another 275 nominations from around the awards and festival circuit, including six Oscar nods. 

Anora 'Ani' Mikheeva (Mikey Madison) is a 23-year-old stripper working in 'Headquarters', an upmarket strip club, and living in Brighton Beach, in Brooklyn. As Ani is able to speak some Russian and understand the language, her boss Jimmy (Vincent Radwinsky) introduces her to a customer Ivan 'Vanya' Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the somewhat immature 21-year-old son of a very wealthy Russian oligarch, Nikolai Zakharov (Aleksei Serebryakov). Vanya is in the US to study, but prefers to party, get drunk, snort cocaine, play video games and lord it up in his family's extensive Brooklyn mansion, where he resides alone while his parents are back home in Russia. 

Vanya hires Ani for numerous sexual encounters and pays her US$15K to stay with him for a week and be his girlfriend. Vanya and his besties jet off to Las Vegas, where Vanya asks Ani to marry him so that he can obtain a green card instead of returning to Russia to work in his fathers business. Although Ani is reluctant at first, Vanya insists his love is genuine, and they elope to a Vegas wedding chapel and within fifteen minutes are officially married. Ani quits her job at Headquarters and moves into Vanya's mansion. 

When news of the wedding reaches Russia, Vanya's mother, Galina (Darya Ekamasova), orders his Armenian godfather, Toros (Karren Karagulian), to find the couple and arrange an immediate annulment while she and her husband fly to the US on their private jet. Toros sends his henchmen, Garnik (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov), to the house. They tell Vanya that his parents will take him back to Russia, and anger Ani by calling her a prostitute. Vanya storms out of the house and flees the unfolding scene. 

Ani fights Garnik and Igor, injuring them and destroying several items of furniture, fixtures and fittings, but they tie her up with a telephone cable. A short time later Toros arrives. He lectures Ani about Vanya's immaturity, forcibly removes Ani's four carat diamond wedding ring, has her gagged with a red scarf, and offers her US$10K to accept the annulment. Ani insists that she and Vanya are in love, and that she may already be carrying their baby, but agrees to help Toros find him.

Ani, Toros, Garnik, and Igor spend the night driving around Brooklyn searching for Vanya, with Toros asking just about anyone and everyone if they have seen Vanya because he's disappeared. Ani's friends inform her that he is at Headquarters, her former workplace with another stripper. The group arrives there to find Vanya too intoxicated to listen or talk any sense to them, and Ani getting into a fight with another rival stripper Diamond (Lindsey Normington). They all leave together forcing them to wait outside the courthouse until the morning. The next day, the annulment is thrown out of court because Ani and Vanya were married in Nevada, and the rule of law states that a marriage can only be annulled in the state in which the marriage took place. 

At a New York airport, Nikolai and Galina disembark their private jet having just flown in from Russia. Ani speaks to Galina in Russian, saying how pleased she is to meet with Vanya's beautiful family but Galina immediately rejects her, and chides her for her poor command of the Russian language. Vanya concedes to his parents and coldly tells Ani that their marriage is impossible while Galina orders everyone on the plane to Las Vegas. Ani, at first refuses to board the plane, and states that having not signed a prenuptial agreement, threatens to force Vanya through divorce proceedings, but Galina threatens to destroy her life and that of her family and friends if she does. Finally realising Vanya's immaturity and his family's power, Ani agrees to the annulment. After the papers are signed, Igor suggests that Vanya apologise to Ani, but Galina insists that her son will not apologise to anyone. Ani insults Vanya and Galina before leaving. Toros tells Ani that she can spend one last night in Vanya's mansion but that she must be gone in the morning, and that is when she'll also get her US$10K.

Igor takes Ani back to New York to pack up her belongings. While spending one last night at the Zakharov mansion, Igor attempts to break the ice with Ani by trying his luck with some friendly chat. She though remains upset by their first encounter, arguing that he assaulted her and would have raped her had they been alone, to which he replies that he is not a rapist and denies the claim. In the morning, Igor gives Ani the money Toros promised her and drives her home. In the car, he returns Ani's wedding ring as a gesture of goodwill, but makes her promise not to tell Toros. Ani initiates sex with Igor in the car, but stops when he attempts to kiss her - she breaks down, sobbing uncontrollably in his arms.

The first half of 'Anora's' 139 minute run time is a bonk fest with more T&A on display here too that is sure to turn some audience members off. That said the second half delves into the drama with some real laugh out loud moments that touches on raw emotion, a power struggle, the class divide and human connection. Mikey Madison is a force to be reckoned with here, and delivers a performance worthy of all the accolades bestowed upon her, and the remaining ensemble cast all more than adequately earn their keep too. Writer and Director Sean Baker has here delivered us a film of two halves, with the first displaying all the boldness and beauty of Anora, and the second more akin to Guy Ritchie's early work on 'Lock, Stock . . . . .' and 'Snatch' as the film lurches into a game of cat and mouse that ultimately sees our protagonist rue the day that she ever crossed paths with the antagonist and his family. My only criticism of the film is that I found the first half over gratuitous bordering on the repetitive same old same old, and the Director could have benefited from a less is more approach by shaving twenty minutes off the run time and ramping up the second half more. It is certainly worth the price of your movie ticket though, but if you are over sensitive to sex, nudity and T&A on screen, then be warned that perhaps this movie is not for you. 

'Anora' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-