Anora has gained a lot of attention after winning the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious Palm d’Or this year.
It has become a favorite of film critics everywhere, gaining praise and inclusion on a long list of award nominations.
It’s a modern-day Cinderella Story which is to say, in movie terms, an updated Pretty Woman story of a young, attractive escort who meets the client of her dreams—a kindhearted, handsome rich man who likes to have a good time. What could be better?
In the movie, we meet Anora (who prefers to be called Ani) in an upscale gentlemen’s club where she pole dances and entertains men in private rooms. She learns that one of the customers is looking for a girl who can speak Russian. She agrees, and soon is introduced to Ivan, a young, fun-loving, boyishly handsome who takes an instant liking to Ani.
He invites her to his place the next day and Ani discovers that Ivan lives in a very upscale, gated, modern mansion. After having some hot sex for money, Ivan asks if she would agree to spend a week with him. They negotiate a fee, she informs her boss at the club, and she finds herself in a Cinderella world of non-stop partying with Ivan and her friends. Of course there is sex. A lot of sex.
Ani and Ivan bang each other like a couple of rabbits on crack cocaine. In fact, some of their coupling is fueled by illegal substances and alcohol. They spend their days making love and playing video games on Ivan’s large-screen, customized, bedroom TV.
Ivan’s giggly, impulsive adolescent behavior culminates in a spur of the moment decision to fly to Las Vegas where Ivan proposes to Ani. They are married in a quicky marriage Las Vegas chapel. Ani puts her bewilderment aside when Ivan presents her with a diamond the size of a doorknob.
The first part of Anora plays a lot like the R-Rated movies that Cinemax used to run late at night, the ones that earned Cinemax the nickname “Skin-a-max.” There is a lot of gratuitous nudity and sex, artfully shot and edited.
Eventually, problems arise. Along the way, Ani learns that that Ivan is the son of a rich, powerful Russian oligarch, whose mansion Ivan has been living in. We learn that he’s been an irresponsible young man who has pushed the limits of his parents’ tolerance. Upon hearing of his marriage, the parents angrily board a private jet in order to set things right.
It's here that Anora shirts from soft core porn to something akin to a Cohen Brothers comedy. The confrontation of Ivan’s parents and the Russian thugs they have hired to keep Ivan in line is comedy gold.
Actress Mikey Madison’s take on her character Ani borrows from Marisa Tomei’s Oscar-winning performance in My Cousin Vinny. It’s the same attitude and accent, and it works perfectly here, dramatically peaking in the over-the-top, screamiing tantrums that are triggered when emotions spin out of control. It’s brilliantly funny.
It would have been great if the story could have found some clever Cohen Brothers ending that might have left the audience smiling. Instead, it takes a more somber, emotional turn venturing into an entirely different story twist, which audiences will either love or hate.
In terms of content, it’s interesting that Anora is among several other recent releases that have pushed the boundaries of nudity and sex in the movies in the past few months. Others include Babygirl, The Substance, as well as Nosferatu and Queer. Over the years, the pendulum swings back and forth in the movie world when it comes to the depiction of nudity and sex. We are definitely in a period of liberation and freedom for whatever reason.
Anora is a movie that’s difficult to categorize or label. It’s being called a comedy, and while it is what used to be called adult humor, it is also a movie with dramatic content and an ending that makes a statement but doesn’t leave you laughing.
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