When my roommates and I decided to watch this Oscar-winner as a casual Wednesday night movie, I expected to be engulfed in dramatic heartbreak. However, I found myself laughing, staring in awe, smiling, crying, laughing again, and then heartbroken.
Anora, directed by Sean Baker, contains three acts, transitioning from a simple and lighthearted love story, to an aggressive and concerning search, and then pure disappointment.
Immediately, Ani (Anora) has a confident and assertive glow to her. She knows what she wants, money, and will do anything she needs to do to succeed in her already modest lifestyle. I found Ani, played by Mikey Madison, to be absolutely mesmerizing—I could not keep my eyes off of her. We learn a lot about Ani in these first couple of scenes: she does not take BS, her controversial job as a Brighton Beach stripper is all about supporting herself, she is confident, and she will do what she needs to get what she wants.
In comes Ivan, or Vanya, played by Mark Eydelshteyn. My first reaction when I realized that he is the other piece to the love story advertised in the movie description was, “Is he 15 years old?” He claims to be 21, but as soon as Ani sees his deep pockets, it is apparent that his age does not matter. They clearly hit it off, with the ongoing inside joke about their terrible accents, flirting, and shared laughs. Even though their relationship is transactional, there is something charming about seeing the two of them together.
My initial thoughts before the Vegas trip are that this movie is funnier than I expected it to be and that, even though Ani is clearly skeptical, and Vanya is used to transactional relationships, I like them together. They have such an interesting banter and complex chemistry, where Vanya is mesmerized by Ani almost as much as the audience is. On this chaotic and reckless Vegas trip, Ani and Vanya have one of the first serious conversations that ends in them deciding to get married in the middle of the night. I think this is where a shift happens because Vanya was so obsessed with Ani, and even though she liked him, I did not think she was invested to the point that their relationship could go to the altar.
When they return from Vegas, all hell breaks loose. In comes Vanya’s fathers loyal supporters who are supposed to keep an eye on the unheeding and careless Vanya, as well as their estate. When Vanya’s parents find out their son has married an escort, they send these loyal goons. This is where my dislike for Vanya begins: the intoxicated husband runs, leaving Ani scared to death with the goons. She puts up a fight that shows just how tough and self-sufficient she is. She insists that her marriage to Vanya is legal and true, naively arguing that he will come back and defend her. Even though she thinks of these captors as her enemies, I think there is a silent alliance that ties all of them together as pawns in a rich man’s world.
As they hunt for Vanya, we can see how much Ani has grown to love him while I grew to hate him for leaving her behind. The captors somehow are more frustrated and angrier than they were when they entered the film, humanizing them as people who were bribed into finding someone’s irresponsible son rather than real threats. My heart sank when the group of four finally finished their search at the strip club where Ani and Vanya met. Seeing Ani’s work rival performing for Vanya while he sits there, intoxicated, doing absolutely nothing to acknowledge the issues he has caused, was awful. My heart broke for our loveable and heroic Ani.
This is where we transition into the third and final act of the film: the pure disappointment. After the incident at the strip club, there was still hope that Vanya could do something to redeem himself. Acknowledge his vows, defend Ani to his family, or even leave her with something to keep her financially afloat. Instead, he stays silent and submissive to his furious parents, allowing them to rip Ani apart and leave her with nothing. As if I thought I couldn’t be more heartbroken, somehow this ending left me as a combination of disappointed, furious, and distraught. This was the type of movie where when the screen went black, signaling the film’s conclusion, I insisted that there is no way that that is how the movie ends.
This film had everything: love, laughs, suspense, drama, and heartbreak. I recommend Anora to anyone, especially those who love scandal, drama, and a powerful woman.