Sean Baker is an indie director who has chosen to make films about the underrepresented people of America. Such as transgender prostitutes, porn stars, or those that live exclusively in hotels because they can’t afford a better place to live. His films have taken place in Los Angeles, California Orlando Florida, and now his latest Anora takes place in New York City and partially in Las Vegas. Like the others, his latest deals with a ub-section of America not seen on the big screen that often, exotic dancers or strippers as they say. Once again, Baker takes this under-represented group and tells an interesting yet compelling story.

Anora (Mikey Madison) or “Ani”  as she likes to be called is an exotic dancer at a New York Strip Club called HQ. Like any good stripper show circles, the club is looking for potential customers looking for a lap dance or going to a private room to get a more intimate experience. She’s a beautiful young Black haired girl who knows how to work the room. She attracts the attention of a young Russian boy and his friends and they enjoy each other’s company. They start to spend a lot of time having sex and fun together after their original encounter at the club. It seems like they are a good pairing, but appearances can be deceiving. 

Mikey Maddison has had a lot of big roles in her career. She made the most of a small role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, though. Here, she commands the screen with her brash, New York accent, and spitfire attitude. Her beauty is stunning, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her throughout the course of the film. Baker knew what he was doing, casting her in this role. She pairs nicely with the young man who plays Ivan or Vania (Mark Edelstein). She is mesmerizing in every scene she’s in with him or otherwise. She controls the screen, and this role has made her a genuine star. She will become an actress people will remember from this point onward. She’ll be everywhere in the next few months as this film, and she gets a lot of eyes on them.

Baker splits this movie into two distinct segments. As the popular saying goes, you have the “honeymoon” and then things start to get real. That’s kind of what happens in this film. The two young lovers have a lot of fun drinking, partying, having sex, and going to clubs. The main man showed this young woman a great time. He buys her gifts like expensive coats and so forth, and it’s a beautiful courtship. Then, the second half of the movie is all that comes crashing down as reality sets in for this pair of star-crossed lovers. The second half is more of some wild and crazy situations I couldn’t have predicted. Which led to some very funny exchanges.

In the second half of the film, the cast expands more. Baker uses one of his regulars if you will who have appeared in Starlet, Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket.  Karen Karagulian plays Toros, the man responsible for looking after this young Russian man. When he finds this kid, if you will have gone off and done something crazy again, he sends a couple of his guys to handle the situation. Things get out of control, though, and this is where a lot of the humor of the movie happens.  Karagulian is fantastic in his role. He’s an overlooked character actor. Baker relies on a lot, but I haven’t seen him in much else. I would love to see him get a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his turn in this film. I loved all the wacky scenarios he and his men got involved in the second half of the movie, involving Madison’s character as well.

Baker has done a nice job shining a light on under-represented communities in his films, but as a writer/director, he’s come into his own on Anora. He gets viewers to think one way in the first act of the movie and pulls the rug out from under them in the second half of the film. He uses a little of what he’s done in the past in Tangerine and The Florida Project and accentuates on those things in this movie. A lot of his people have compared this film to a mix of Pretty Woman and The Hangover, and I’d agree with that, but in my experience, every film is its own thing. He’s gotten a lot better as a director over the course of his career. He has finally made a film that would be a complete vision; no other writer/director could have come up with this story. It’s uniquely his, and he’ll be rewarded for that going forward. I have a feeling.

There is a nature to this story that is a slice-of-life type of situation. Where this could be about anybody and this could take place anywhere. I have known of situations like this happening locally where I live, so I know this type of thing featured in this movie happens more often than people would think. There is a small nature to the story, but because of the humorous feel of it and the larger-than-life performance from Madison, it has a bigger impact overall. Film fans will see that when they watch the film. I instantly noticed that. If I can, then many others will as well. I love a small movie that has a big feeling, and that surprises me as this one did.

Anora is a crowning achievement for Baker and company. He has used everything he’s learned as a filmmaker and writer and made the best film of his career thus far. He used some of the elements he’s used in the past but also made a new and original story, which had me cracking up at times and crying at other times. The breakout performance from Madison is going to be one people remember during this film’s award season run in the next few months, but also in years to come. She has become the new anjanue in Hollywood.  She’ll be a huge star going forward from here. The supporting cast is good with Karagulian as the standout for me. This was a fantastic movie, but I don’t think it’ll go the distance as a Best Picture winner. It may get a lot of awards during the course of its run for Baker and NEON, who have a knack for finding great films to get behind. It’s just not a Best Picture winner from my perspective.  I loved the movie, though. I had an absolute blast watching it, and I couldn’t take my eyes off Madison. She was mesmerizing to me watching her. She’s the real deal in this film.

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen