Anora straddles the serious and unserious for a not-so-Cinderella story that trades glass slippers for stripper heels.
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Spoilers for Anora ahead.
Imagine this: you’re at work and meet a young billionaire who wants to take you around the city. You spend some time together before he pops the question. Do you say yes? If your answer is “You know what, hell yes!” then you probably have the same mindset as Ani, the lead protagonist of Anora. Written and directed by Sean Baker, Anora tells the story of a young sex worker from Brooklyn named Anora, or Ani for short. She gets the chance of a lifetime when she meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch named Ivan following a wild week in Las Vegas.

It seems like everything is coming together for the young couple, that is until news reaches Russia, and Ivan’s family sets out for New York to get the marriage annulled. What follows is some of the most charming and endearing 2-and-a-half hours you can treat yourself to in cinemas these days.
After making a quick and much-attended stop in the Philippines last year as part of the 2024 QCinema line-up, Anora is finally back in local cinemas for a wider run as an Ayala Malls Cinemas exclusive. So, if you haven’t seen this critically acclaimed movie yet, we’ll give you a few more reasons why Ani deserves those bills.
SHE’S THAT GIRL
Right off the bat, what makes Anora a captivating watch is its lead star, Mikey Madison, in a star-making turn. Mikey has been attracting attention these past few years (OGs remember her in Scream VI), but in Anora, she delivers a career-best performance. While the movie doesn’t delve too much into Ani’s psyche or her backstory, Mikey plays her with the kind of charisma that makes you still want to root for Ani.

Mikey Madison is a magnetic force on screen whose personality is as noticeable as her Brooklyn accent. Ani really is that girl as she vacillates from a confident baddie to a lovestruck wife and then a heartbroken young woman. Beyond the partying, drugs, and sex, this is Anora’s love story, which is why she’s so giddy to marry Ivan and start a family when an opportunity for a real romance presents itself, and also unleash her anger on Ivan and his family when she realizes that it’s not meant to be, as seen in a biting sequence where Ani lets Ivan’s mom have it.
Ani goes through all that and then some in two weeks, and it’s told beautifully through Mikey Madison’s commanding performance. She’s also not alone in this wild story. Mark Eydelshteyn, who plays Ivan, captures that cocky rich kid energy who’s revealed to be a total ass to Ani that doesn’t even fight for her. But it’s Yuri Borisov, who plays the lovable Igor, who lowkey steals the show here. The crew Ani joins for half of the movie is so memorable, but it’s Igor’s silence and awkward care for Ani that shines, which is no wonder he serves a pivotal role at the end. Igor best boy indeed.
NO FAIRYTALE ENDING
Everyone in the cast deserves their flowers, which is one of the main reasons why Anora is as effective as it is. It’s also this chemistry that makes the movie’s frenetic energy and comedy that much more entertaining. Sure, you get the drama and more nuanced scenes, but Sean Baker moves Anora briskly for most of the runtime that makes it serious and unserious at the same time.
Something is always happening in this movie, exemplified in the “home invasion” scene, one of the movie’s best sequences. The scene is pretty simple in concept, but how it’s framed with the way the group tries to make sure Anora doesn’t leave the house is what makes it so good. It goes on for way longer than it should, but that’s not a detriment to how the scene escalates with every moving second.

Admittedly, the movie takes an abrupt stop in its ending, which has proven to be decisive. As Igor drops off Ani at her home following the annulment, she gives Igor a lap dance in the car before breaking down in his arms as the camera cuts to black. Following two hours of wild action, the movie takes a left turn both in terms of tone and narrative that feels out of place. But the ending also speaks to Ani and how she’s coping with her loss.
First, after two days that saw her Cinderella story fall apart and realizing her ex-husband is an immature asshole who didn’t fight for their marriage, reality comes crashing down for Ani. When the high is over, the down begins, and Ani’s tears represent that. Second, Ani giving Igor a lap dance and rejecting his kisses speaks to how Ani has only known that way as the way to show affection to a partner. Ani just wants to be loved in a genuine, compassionate way, but that’s the only way she knows how to do it.

Regardless of your take on the ending, it got people to talk, especially how there’s no music at the end so you’ll have to sit with yourself in silence processing that. And really, isn’t any great ending supposed to start conversations once the credits roll?
Overall, Anora gets the job done as a raunchy, funny, and dramatic Cinderella tale that almost was. You could say it’s Pretty Woman for Gen Z but with more bite. At the heart of it all is a love story of a young woman who thought she was getting her fairytale ending but ended up back to square one by the end. It’s sad, yes, but the journey of getting there is a cinematic experience worth your time and attention.
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