The story of Cinderella has always been my favorite fairytale. Over the years, her story has come to embody the power of perseverance — how determination can triumph over unfortunate life circumstances, transforming rags to riches and replacing solitude with love.
Sean Baker’s “Anora” takes this tale as old as time and sets it on fire.
“Anora” centers on the titular Anora (Mikey Madison), who prefers to be called Ani, a headstrong sex worker working at a high-end club in New York. One night, as the only employee fluent in Russian, Ani is summoned by her boss to meet Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn) — or Vanya, as he’s known — the carefree, immature son of a Russian oligarch. Vanya quickly grows attached to Ani, extravagantly spending his money to schedule meetings with her outside the club. A romance rapidly blooms from their initially transactional relationship, leading to a shotgun wedding in Las Vegas, Nev. However, their love is threatened when Vanya’s mother and father, Galina (Darya Ekamasova) and Nikolai (Aleksey Serebryakov), soon catch onto the whereabouts of their son and his marriage to Ani.
From start to finish, “Anora” brims with a colorful cast of characters, brought to life by a brilliant ensemble cast. The spirit of “Anora” is entrancing and engaging, thanks to the pure joy of watching these characters dance across the screen. Particularly engaging are the fast-paced and brash conversations between Ani’s coworkers and the youthful recklessness that Vanya’s boisterous group of friends bring with them wherever they go.
There is no denying that there is a well-deserved spotlight on the magnetic performance by Madison as the remarkable Ani. Madison deftly balances Ani’s boldness with a certain innocence, which only emerges in glimpses — seen in her hopeful dreams of a shared love and future with Vanya.
Next to Madison, Eydelshteyn does an incredible job of crafting Vanya’s childish yet charming nature. Eydelshteyn is large in the way he delivers his lines and his actions — a literal flurry of limbs with a lively voice to match. Eydelshteyn easily flips from being a real Prince Charming, exemplified in his seemingly genuine confession of love in his proposal to Ani, to a complete scumbag when he rejects Ani, calling her simply a paid escort.
Introduced later in the film, the three Russian henchmen sent by Vanya’s parents — his godfather Toros (Karren Karagulian), Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov) — are a delightful surprise. Part of the story’s more comedic middle, the trio shares sharp, quick chemistry, bringing absurd humor to the chaos they leave in their wake.
Among this trio, Borisov was a particularly unexpected standout as Igor. Igor often keeps to himself throughout his time on screen. But through Borisov’s quiet glances and slight awkwardness, Igor becomes a part of the heart of “Anora.” Paired with Madison’s Ani in the latter half of the film, the two are able to exhibit an unexplainable and strange, yet compelling, connection between the characters that is colored with genuine sincerity.
On top of the performances, “Anora” is enriched by a wistful dreaminess it brings out from its enrapturing visuals. This is most exemplified by the long sequence of the spontaneous trip to Las Vegas. Shots of the glittering cityscape and the group’s lavish escapades in the casinos capture an inexplicable thrill that culminates in Ani’s shotgun wedding to Vanya in a glowing, tastefully gaudy Vegas chapel. Their utter joy after the wedding is shown in dizzying camera movements that circle around the couple under the Vegas skyline for a frenzied and eternally glamorous ceremony.
However, “Anora” refuses to simply be just a Cinderella story. While the first half is focused on building this intoxicating romance, the second half is a cold shot of reality. At the arrival of the henchmen, Vanya abandons Ani, only to be found at the club where he had met Ani with another stripper. Vanya then shuns her with ease when his parents show up. What seemed a whirlwind, dreamy romance reveals itself as nothing more than a manipulative ploy — a marriage staged solely to anger his parents.
This all culminates in a haunting third act. The final moments of “Anora” are with Ani and Igor, whose dry and biting conversation in Vanya’s empty mansion is a sobering moment against the chaos of the last few days. Yet, soured by Vanya’s betrayal, the audience can’t help but be wary of Igor’s motivations.
Ultimately, in the film’s heartbreaking conclusion, Igor’s embrace and attempt to kiss Ani after she initiates sex causes her to break down into tears. No matter whether you see this moment as genuine or manipulative, it’s harrowing to see someone like Ani, who has the fierceness of a lion, reduced to complete tears. The only comfort for Ani — and strangely for me, someone who clings to that hope of love — is the way that Igor holds onto her, a small solace for someone whose hope to escape the confines of reality has been ripped to pieces in front of her.
By no means is “Anora” an ordinary love story. It’s a fairytale entrenched in reality — one that sweeps you off your feet before abandoning you to the loneliness that carves itself deep into your heart.
