Josh Reviews Anora

Anora stars Mikey Madison (Better Things) as Anora (though she prefers “Ani”), a twenty-three year-old stripper who is very good at her job.  When the super-wealthy Russian kid Vanya arrives at the club to party with his buddies, Ani’s boss assigns her to take care of them.  Ani and Vanya (real name: Ivan) take a liking to one another, and Vanya hires Ani to come to his house for sex, then invites her to his New Year’s party, and then hires her for an exorbitant amount of money to be his girlfriend for a week.  At the end of the week, Vanya doesn’t want their time together to end — and he really doesn’t want to return to Russia to work for his father — so he proposes.  Ani, smitten by this fun-loving young man and his life of privilege, says yes.  It seems like a dream… until Vanya’s parents find out about the wedding and send a bunch of their goons to break up the couple…

For the first 50 minutes of Anora, I wasn’t sure what sort of movie I was watching, or why this had gotten so much acclaim this year.  In that first 50 minutes there are a lot of scenes of nudity at a strip club… and lots of scenes of nudity when Ani and Vanya are having sex… and lots of scenes of the two of them, and their friends, spending Vanya’s money in increasingly jaw-dropping ways.  There’s enjoyment to be found in all those things, but it all felt somewhat B-movie to me, and my attention started to wander.

The movie finally came to life for me at about that 50-minute mark, when the Russian goons (actually they’re Armenian, sent by Vanya’s Russian parents) knock on the door of Vanya’s house (actually, his parents’ house) and barge their way in.  Suddenly I was hooked, as the movie took a left turn and became both very intense and also darkly funny.  It reminded me at that point of films like Uncut Gems or the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple.  From that turn, the film entered a more dangerous world, and I was captivated straight through to the interestingly ambiguous ending.  At 139 minutes, I think this film is too long.  I know we needed time to get to know Ani and Vanya before things get crazy, but it seems to me that first 50 minutes could have been condensed.

I’m also of two minds about the film’s extensive nudity.  I’m not against nudity in films, and I understand intellectually the idea of presenting the reality of Ani’s world in all of its dark, gritty, R-rated nature.  At the same time, in a film called Anora that seems genuinely interested in centering the story on this woman and her experience, there was a lot that felt very male-gazey in that first 50 minutes.  That felt to me to be somewhat at odds with the film’s thematic elements.  It was also, frankly, somewhat uncomfortable for me as a viewer, having watched actress Mikey Madison grow up on Pamela Adlon’s magnificent TV series Better Things, to see her here in full Striptease mode.

I’d heard that Ms. Madison gave a star-making performance in this film, and there’s no question that’s the case.  She is absolutely spectacular.  The film rests 100% on her shoulders, and she delivers a knockout performance, fierce and funny and riveting.  She fully embodies Ani’s fast-talking, street-tough energy.  And then, in the second half, when things go sideways, and Ani is a lot less verbal, Ms. Madison’s skills are even more on display, conveying so much on her face and in her eyes.  This is a great role and a fantastic performance.

This is completely Ms. Madison’s film, but the men around her all do strong work as well.  Mark Eydelshteyn is great as Ivan/Vanya, full of exuberant energy and enthusiasm (and, later, gloriously sullen-brat energy).  Karren Karagulian is terrific as Toros, the beleaguered Armenian dude who’s been hired by Vanya’s parents to keep him in line, a task which the impulsive, entitled Vanya makes extremely difficult.  Even better is Vache Tovmasyan as Toros’ brother Garnick, who is in way over his head.  I was so pleasantly surprised by how funny Mr. Tovmasyan made Garnick, especially once he gets beat up and gets high on painkillers and booze.  I loved Garnick!!  Then there was Yura Borisov as Igor, the young Russian thug who Garnick brings along in case he needs some muscle.  Here too I was surprised by the unexpected nuance that the film gave to Igor.  Mr. Borisov does a great job bringing some humanity to Igor as the viewers (and Ani) discover there might be more to him than just being dim muscle.  I’m smiling writing about all of these guys.  These characters are all very far from being good people, but the sharp script combined with their lively performances turned all four of those guys into memorable screen characters.

Anora was written and directed by Sean Baker.  (Mr. Baker has made several films that have all sounded interesting to me but that, for one reason or another, I’ve never actually seen.  It might be high time for me to track them down and give them a try.)  There’s no question that Mr. Baker has crafted a unique, memorable film.  As I wrote above, the first act didn’t work for me.  Your mileage may vary in terms of whether or not you find all the nudity and displays of indulgent wealth off-putting or not.  But I really loved the second two-thirds of this film.  I’m glad to have seen it, and I’m eager to see what everyone involved in this film — especially Mr. Baker and Ms. Madison — do next.

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