Anora “Ani” Mikheeva (Mikey Madison) is a street-smart sex worker living in a small house with her sister in Brighton Beach. A talented stripper at the HQ nightclub in New York City, she’s popular among customers and her co-workers, able to mouth off anyone in her way — as she often does with rival stripper Diamond (Lindsey Normington). She is shown to be able to support herself, making good-enough money considering her strict boss, yet there’s clearly something missing.
Maybe that’s why she falls so hard for Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the young Russian-born playboy that pops into her club one random night. Being the only worker there that speaks Russian, she gets along okay with the customer to get some extra hundreds from him, but then gives him her number. Next thing she knows, she’s standing in the middle of a lavish mansion owned by someone who has a dab pen behind his ear.
For the first third of “Anora,” the relationship between Ani and Ivan remains unclear. It’s obvious why Vanya would be into the attractive stripper, but what does Ani see in him? Does she go along with his horniness to get extra money, effectively becoming a prostitute? Is it the excessively nice-looking house, complete with maids and a TV that comes out of a cabinet? Or is it simply Vanya’s non-threatening, boyish charm? Despite the surface-level immaturity, there seems to be more to him that only Ani can see.
She becomes seduced by his free-spirit lifestyle. Days turn into weeks as she is paid to live with him, going from spending time watching him play “Call of Duty” to a spontaneous trip to Vegas after a member of Vanya’s posse said that’s where the best ketamine is. This is also where they decide to get married.
For Ivan, it’s a green-card marriage that will make him an American citizen. For Ani, a chance to escape from her life in New York and live in luxury.
To Ani and director Sean Baker, she gets to live her Cinderella story, a point made clear by one of her co-workers literally comparing her to the princess once she comes back to HQ to show off her four-carat ring. Of course, this is coming from the director of “Red Rocket” and “The Florida Project” — the presentation of “Anora” is intentionally flashy, including multiple sex scenes and an authentic look into the world of sex work. The only difference is in Drew Daniels’ cinematography, replacing the handheld indie style of Baker’s previous work with cinematic wide-angles. But like his other films, “Anora” doesn’t spend much time getting itself lost in its own dream scenario.
Once Ani and Ivan have a Vegas wedding, the news comes out to his parents in Russia. All of a sudden, goons force themselves into Vanya’s home and Prince Charming runs out the door, leaving Cinderella to pick up the pieces.
Now having to work with henchmen Toros (Karren Karagulian), Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisav) to find her missing husband before his parents come to annul their marriage, Ani reflects on Vanya’s immaturity as the film itself sobers up to reality. Gone is the care-free, passive tone. It’s now replaced with a grueling journey through New York filled with “Uncut Gems”-level chaos.
Baker keeps this shift comedic in how absurd this search gets, establishing Ani and Igor as the straight men in this madcap situation. But where “Anora” truly works its magic is in its humanity.
Anchored by a pitch-perfect performance by Madison, Baker allows Ani to be seen as more than a street girl with a big mouth. Where in another comedy the character’s pluckiness would be seen as a source of empowerment, allowing her to outsmart everyone and get her man, here “Anora” forces Ani to come to terms with what she got herself into.
No matter how hard she tries, her eagerness to be a part of Vanya’s life will never be enough. The resolution of their relationship is inevitable; the conflict is really when she will finally wake up and realize that.
“Anora” appropriately never looks down on its title character, bringing out the tragedy that this class-divided romance produces with ease. Thankfully, it never goes over into excessive territory; what Baker creates is a comedy that is funny and thoughtful.
Madison and Baker understand that Ani operates like a person. Her connection with Vanya is never made clear beyond its superficialities. Her reactions to her husband’s search ranges from bewildered exhaustion to desperate hope. In how simplified she is, there’s an odd complexity to her, something that comes full circle by the ending.
The same can be said about the entirety of “Anora.” Its style seems to be less atmospheric than Baker’s other films, but it packs an empathetic punch that’s just as strong. In its wide angles and spacial locations lies an underlying loneliness, a desperate need for fulfillment that each character tries their hardest to attain. Everyone is trying to live out their dream, but the hard truth is that only a select few could do so, and even then can’t get everything they want.
The movie is self-aware enough to know this, showing the allure and indulgence of the American dream only to reveal how impossible and empty it actually is. The poor and the rich can never cross, the status quo will always prevail and the rich will continue pursuing their dreams while the poor are stuck serving their fantasy.
In the end, all that “Anora” can do is dream, because at least dreaming is free.
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