Sean Baker is one of the most exciting filmmakers around. He takes characters who fall outside the norm and gives them a voice, whether they be streetwalkers in Tangerines, a single mother living in a motel in The Florida Project or a porn actor in Red Rocket. Now he turns his attention to a sex worker and takes her story and turns it into a mix of romantic comedy, fairytale and chase movies. Anora won the Palme d’Or at Canne this year and deservedly so. This is a triumph, a film that is funny and tragic in equal parts and produces a stunning performance from an unknown who could be an Oscar contender.

Ani works in a strip club, dancing every night to make ends meet. She is introduced to Ivan, a precocious Russian, and the pair hits it off. Their relationship grows, and they get married on a trip to Las Vegas. This starts a chain reaction when Ivan’s parents hear about it and send over their employees to get to the truth. Ivan runs away, leaving Ani to spend the night trying to track him down along with her Russian captors and find the truth about her husband and his family.

It has to be said that this is not a film for the prudish. The first part of the film is quite graphic and doesn’t shy away from showing some very detailed sex scenes. If you are easily offended, then maybe this isn’t for you. For everyone else, Baker takes on a wild journey through the streets of Brooklyn for the second part of the film, which is when it kicks in. Baker has a knack for making the sleazy seem almost magical, with the strip club bathed in neon and bright colours. We then see a world in which Ani would never have dreamed of a lavish mansion where Ivan lives in the bright lights of Vegas. When the dream collapses, the film shifts to the streets, but what Baker does cleverly is when you think things are going to get dark, it becomes hilarious.

We get to know Ani in the first act. A young woman living with her sister in a small house in Brooklyn, a world away from where she would end up. The relationship seems playful at first, but you can tell that Ivan is a child whose life involves drugs, alcohol and video games. Money is no option. His real character shows through when his parents demand proof of the marriage and an immediate annulment, as the workers for the family descend on the house and allow the boy to escape. He cannot control Ani’s violent reaction, almost smashing the place up as these burly men try to control her. It’s an extended scene that is as funny as it is brutal.

From this point on, the film is a blast. It is sharp with blunt one-liners and brimming with visual comedy, and you find yourself laughing but feeling so much sympathy for Ani. This is a woman who thought she had finally found a way out, only to watch her world implode on itself. Baker manages to balance both emotions with pure skill, and while you are not laughing out loud, you are welling up.

The cast is terrific, with Karren Karagulian, a regular in Baker’s films, as Toros, the key worker for the Russian family, who abandons a christening he is conducting to take on this emergency. He is the big boss without a clue, and he’s a blast. Vache Tovmasyan, as the put-upon heavy, is hilarious. At the same time, as the quietly spoken accomplice drawn towards Ani and her plight, Yura Borisov is a touch of calmness to the craziness.

Mikey Madison as Ani is a revelation. Found by Baker after a brief appearance in the 2022 version of Scream, she is outstanding, bringing a mix of tough Brooklyn attitude with an undercurrent of vulnerability. She carries the film and does it with aplomb. If there was ever an excuse to see a film for a single performance, this is it. She commands the whole film and deserves every success she gets.

Anora is a beautiful surprise, considering the subject matter. It has a heart and plenty of it. It never hides away from the difficult but embraces it, which is why Sean Baker is a master of producing films like this. The Florida Project has always been one of my favourites for this director. It might have just been knocked off its perch. Pretty Woman for those who like their films a little darker.

5 out of 5

Director: Sean Baker

Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Yura Borisov, Lindsey Normington, Emily Weider

Written by Sean Baker

Running Time: 139 mins

Cert: 18

Release date: 1st November 2024