An anti-Cinderella tragicomedy
Film fans, rejoice! At last, the acclaimed “Anora” graces our theaters (well, Ayala Malls Cinemas) after a limited engagement two months ago during QCinema.
The big winner at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, and the first Sean Baker movie to actually get a theatrical release in the Philippines, it’s been one of the darlings this awards season, with a breakthrough central performance from Mikey Madison (“Scream,” “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”) and a tremendous supporting cast.
Madison plays the eponymous Anora, a stripper in New York who’s very good at her job, who meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), a young and moneyed Russian. Vanya requests a stripper who speaks Russian, and Ani—as she prefers to be called—fits the bill. But he takes quite a fancy to her and soon enough he’s asking for GFE (girlfriend experience) weeks and, smitten, proposes.
They wed in Vegas, as the young, carefree, and impulsive are wont to do, but when they return to New York, life catches up with them as Vanya’s oligarch parents find out about the marriage, and send their handlers to take care of the situation. So begins a long dark night of soul-searching, with hijinks, drama, and some of the most lively directing of 2024.
No-nonsense woman
Writer/director Baker’s predilection for main characters who exist on the margins pays dividends once again with Ani, who you absolutely want to root for. As played by Madison, she’s charming and savvy, a no-nonsense woman who works hard and doesn’t suffer fools, even standing up to her boss for not giving them health benefits and a 401(k)—one of the film’s subtle digs at the failed American Dream. One of the tragic aspects of the film is in watching this headstrong woman, who we assume should know better, willfully delude herself into holding on to something as ephemeral as a daydream.
The supporting cast Baker has surrounded Madison with are also incredible, from Yura Borisov’s shy muscle Igor to Karren Karagulian’s Toros, a veritable force of nature who can be both hilarious and grating on your nerves. Eydelshteyn as well inhabits his character to such a degree (as they all do, really) that it’s a surprise they’re all working with Baker for the first time.
Baker, who also edits, seems to have been thinking and shaping this story for a while.
Montages
Much of its first act is told in breathless montages, with great needle drops like a remix of Take That’s “Greatest Day” (used twice!), and t.A.T.u.’s “All The Things She Said” dropped like a bomb in a later scene during a physical dust-up. There is such vitality in his scenes: the way they are performed, framed, cut. The naturalism of the performances is never undermined by the telling of the story; they work in tandem and are fluid, inextricable.
There’s also a masterful balancing act with regard to the humor, which can serve as its own Rorschach test: Are we allowed to laugh at this? Will you be able to stop yourself? Circumstances and perspectives of the characters differ, and it’s that disconnect and divide that provides much of the mirth and tension.
It’s rewarding to pay attention to the commentary that is seemingly offscreen: the few details of Ani’s family life that she doles out in quiet, unguarded moments; the one time she uses her given name voluntarily in the movie. You can catch her in a lie if you’re paying attention, and if you wonder about why that is, you fill in the blanks of her character.
“Anora” is a gritty thrill ride, enthralling and funny and moving with a serious subtext that doesn’t need to hit you over the head. If you’re lucky enough to be seeing it with a game and willing audience, it’s also likely one of the best times you’ll have at the cinema in recent memory.
“Anora” is an Ayala Malls Cinemas exclusive.
