According to writer-director Sean Baker’s Anora, working as a stripper is just another job, albeit an unusual one.  First there’s the disorienting atmosphere of the club, with its loud, thumping music and rotating colored lights.  Then there’s the job itself, which involves coaxing payments to pay for a few minutes of fake intimacy with a semi-nude woman.  Although it certainly helps to be a good erotic dancer, as Ani (Mikey Madison) is, it’s even more important to convince patrons that she likes them.  If they don’t believe her initial performance, they won’t pay for her services.  Being a successful stripper is about the art of pretending, convincing others that illusions are real and that dreams can come true–for a price.  It’s a theme that reverberates throughout the movie, reaching beyond its transactional origins to produce consequences both expected and unexpected.

Another extremely useful skill for a sex worker like Ani is recognizing an easy mark when she sees one.  That would be Ivan–who prefers to be called Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), a twenty-one year Russian with money to burn.  Ani is requested by club management to sit with him because she understands Russian.  (Her immigrant grandmother never learned English.)  After a fun night at the club, Vanya rings Ani for an in-home visit.  She marvels at the luxury of his home, which is extravagantly decorated and features a panoramic view of the New York harbor.  Vanya is definitely rich, but how?

When their sprint in bed is finished, Ani asks Vanya what he does for a living.  After a few playful lies, he says he’s the son of a Russian oligarch Ani’s never heard of before.  Thankfully, a Google search takes her to a page with Vanya’s family tree on it.  Another round of satisfactory outcall later and Vanya invites Ani and her friend Nikki (Emily Weider) to his New Year’s Eve party.  Nikki (Emily Weider) is stunned by the opulence of Vanya’s home and the wild party happening inside, which is kept under control by an older man and his bodyguard.

After closing the evening with more frantic sex, Vanya asks Ani to be his girlfriend for the week.  (He wants an extended version of “the girlfriend experience”.)  Although Vanya is terrible in the sack, Ani likes him and figures it’s better than working at the club.  When he initially offers $10k, she ups it to $15k and he accepts without blinking, saying she should have insisted on $30k.

Since Vanya has no job and no responsibilities, the two proceed to pass the time by having sex and hanging out with Vanya’s Russian friends.  His friends are cool, accepting Ani without judging her.  When one states that the best ketamine she’s ever had is in Las Vegas, Vanya flies them there on his private jet for the weekend.  In addition to setting everyone up with their own room in his palatial suite, he funds what becomes a 48 hour party.  (Vanya thoughtfully arranges IV treatments for himself and Ani to offset their drinking.)

After another round of sex, Vanya states that he has to go back to Russia to work for his father.  When Ani says that she’ll miss him, he comes up with a plan.  If he gets married, he won’t have to go back to Russia.  He then proposes to Ani, who asks him repeatedly if he’s serious.  He is, and after a Vegas-style wedding ceremony the two giddily tell every passerby that they’re married.  Their friends are happy for them as well, and word quickly spreads of their marriage.

Ani returns to New York as Vanya’s “little wifey” and promptly quits her job at the club.  Vanya and Ani look happy together, unaware of the embarrassment their marriage has brought to Vanya’s family.   Toros (Karren Karagulian), the old man at Vanya’s New Year’s Eve party, is called in to fix the situation, and he sends his hired hands Igor (Yura Borisov) and Garnik (Vache Tovmasyan) to Vanya’s home to keep them there until he can take control of the situation.  Vanya doesn’t want anything to do with Toros, or his parents who are flying in from Russia, and runs away.  Left alone with two “gropnicks”, Ani tries to fight them off an escape, but Igor eventually subdues her.

When Toros arrives, he tells Ani that everything she thought was Vanya’s belongs to his parents.  Toros says that it would be in Ani’s best interest if Ani agrees to dissolve the marriage in exchange for $10k.  As repeated calls to Vanya go unanswered, Ani realizes that Toros won’t take no for an answer and reluctantly agrees to track down Vanya.  Over the course of the evening, while Ani and the Armenian goombah trio search for Vanya at all of his favorite haunts, Ani realizes that her dream of escaping her former life is coming to an end.  However, she still holds out hope that despite evidence to the contrary, her absentee husband will reappear and fight for their marriage.

Recommendation

Anora is a lot of things.  It begins as a completely non-judgemental expose of how a stripper earns a living, where the camera dutifully captures all the skin and erotic dancing with a detached air of amusement.  The story changes into a playful, transaction-based courtship featuring plenty of sex.  (If you have issues with nudity and/or sex, Anora is definitely not for you.)  Then, with a shift in tone that would have made the late Jonathan Demme proud, Anora turns into a screwball gangster comedy along the lines of Married to the Mob.  (Broadway Danny Rose is another possible influence.)  Finally, the movie concludes in a series of raw, emotionally devastating scenes straight out of a Seventies drama.

Through all of Anora’s wild twists and turns, from the early scenes of naked, gyrating bodies to the aftermath of the legal proceedings, Anora has been exploring how dangerous it is to believe that dream can come true.  Ani (Mikey Madison), a working-class girl who sells illusions for a living, seizes on an opportunity to leave her life behind, only to see her dreams dashed over the course of a day.  The movie states that dreams are the domain of the rich, who dangle joining their ranks as a tantalizing illusion.

What makes Anora’s sobering conclusion so impactful is the journey it takes on.  The movie  invites us to root for Ani, cheering her on in the hope that she’ll somehow beat the odds and win in the end.  Ani wants the same thing we dream about, which is a life wanting for nothing.  Anora, however, isn’t offering a Hollywood happy ending, and all of it’s unapologetic sexuality and slapstick-level comedy only distracts us from the very real possibility that everything won’t turn out all right for Ani in the end.

Although the brilliance of Anora is in the sum of its parts, it is unquestionably the most erotic and funniest movie I’ve seen in some time.  The movie’s open depiction of sexuality and carnality is a revelation and stands in stark contrast to studios that have become allergic to showing people unclothed and (gasp!) coupling.  Anora is also a very funny movie, led by Mikey Madison’s coarse and feisty performance as Ani. The movie’s middle section, a prolonged skewering of three hapless mobsters, is a highlight.

With Anora, writer-director Sean Baker confirms that he’s one of the best filmmakers of his generation.  The way the movie effortlessly navigates between scenes of frank sexuality, physical comedy and heart-wrenching drama is simply masterful.  In short, Anora reminds us what movies made for adults look like as well as the emotions they can make us feel over the course of two hours.  Led by the irresistible performance of Mikey Madison, affecting turns by Yura Borisov and Mark Eydelshteyn and the rest of the exceptional supporting cast, the movie is nothing less than spellbinding from beginning to end.  Anora is Sean Baker’s crowning achievement and one of the best movies of 2024.  Highly recommended.

Analysis

Movies often ask whether transactional relationships evolve into genuine affection.  In Pretty Woman, the answer is a resounding Yes.  Vivan (Julia Roberts), a hooker with a heart of gold, revives Edward’s (Richard Gere) shriveled venture capitalist soul, demands the fairy tale ending and gets it.  Although the movie ends after his proposal, we’re safe in assuming that the two live happily ever after.

The Wrestler, on the other hand, tells us that getting past the money-based aspect of a relationship can be complicated, if not impossible.  Randy (Mickey Rourke) tries again and again to turn his friendship with stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) into something more, but she’s reluctant.  She only sees him as a lonely customer who pays her for lap dances, and rule number one for sex workers is that you don’t fall in love with a customer.  Eventually, Randy gets frustrated with Cassidy’s hesitancy and decides to risk his life on one last shot at glory.  Unfortunately, when Cassidy finally lets her guard down and opens up to the possibility of a life with Randy, he’s already moved on.

Anora’s position on this topic falls somewhere in between those movies.  Ani gets her fairy tale ending early when she marries Vanya, but then spends the rest of the movie fighting against those who don’t approve of the union.  Making matters worse for Ani is the realization that Toros was right when he said that Vanya didn’t love her, that their marriage was only an act of defiance directed at Vanya’s (awful) parents.  This crushes Ani who, regardless of her feelings for Vanya, is forced to accept that her dream of a better life is coming to an end.

Even though the movie provides a lot of evidence arguing that Ani and Vanya never actually loved each other, I have my doubts.  Before his marriage proposal, Vanya treats Ani well even though she’s primarily his good-time girl.  He appreciates that she’s his plus-one whenever he’s out with his friends.  His marriage proposal coincidentally follows Ani’s remark that the time he paid for is coming to an end.  Vanya doesn’t want to return home to Russia and decides to marry her to ensure he can stay in America.  Even though their marriage is one of convenience, there’s no question that Vanya like’s Ani.  Does he come to love her along the way?  I think it’s within the realm of possibility, at least until Toros and his men show up.

It’s easy to use Vanya’s actions as proof that he never loved Ani.  If he actually loved Ani, he would have stayed by her side and not gone on a bender, and certainly he never would have meekly agreed to an annulment when his parents arrived.  What this assessment fails to take into account is that Vanya is childlike.  He lives in fear of his parents and is easily pressured into doing things he doesn’t want to do.  I’m not sure he loved Ani at some point, but I’m not sure he didn’t.

As for Ani, I believe she initially loved what Vanya represented, which was an escape from her former life.  Instead of having to coax men into paying for lap dances or trips to the VIP room, she would only have to satisfy Vanya’s desires, which was very easy for her to do.  Additionally, she would have her own place instead of living under her sister’s roof and would never want for anything ever again.  It’s clear that Ani agrees to marry Vanya not because her former life was terrible, but because her new life would be exponentially better.  

Ani loved being with Vanya because he’s all about having fun, but something changes in her when he goes AWOL and she’s faced with the prospect of an annulment.  The disappointment in her eyes, over realizing that Vanya doesn’t seem to care about her, shows that Ani saw him as more than just her ticket out.  When Vanya turns up, Ani keeps asking him to not do what he’s being told to do, and the tone of her voice and her actions speak to a closeness that isn’t based on money.  Then, when everyone’s on the plane heading to Nevada, Ani’s genuinely hurt when Vanya tells his mother not to make a tragedy out of the time he spent “with an escort”.  No matter how their relationship began or what their marriage initially represented, Ani’s feelings for Vanya grew into something meaningful.  While I don’t know if it was love, I can’t rule it out.

The way Anora ended convinced me that Ani ever knew what it’s like to experience love, because she doesn’t notice that Igor has been falling in love with her during their time together.  After their initial physical encounter, he goes out of his way to be nice to her.  He does little things with her in mind, like bringing along a scarf in case she’s cold, giving her a drink on the plane ride back to Nevada, covering her with his coat on the plane ride home, and so on.  In a sharp contrast to Vanya, Igor is interested in Ani as a person, Googling her name to learn its meaning.  He’s a perfect gentleman around her, always attentive to her needs and how she’s feeling.  He’s surprisingly sensitive and is a little hurt when Ani tells him that he’s a “faggot-ass bitch” and has “rape eyes”.

Ani finally realizes that Igor loves her at the end of the movie.  Unlike every other man she’s met throughout the movie, he never asks her for anything and does things for her without being asked or expecting anything in return.  Through his words and his actions, Igor proves that he cares about Ani.  What sends Ani over the edge is when Igor admits that his car is his grandmother’s.  Not only is Igor’s feelings genuine, but he loves his grandmother just like she did.

The way Ani reacts to Igor’s kindness in his car provides several possible answers to the movie’s lingering questions about transactional relationships and love.  As a sex worker, the only way Ani knows to respond to a man’s interest is with sex.  As such, Ani may have interpreted the situation as requiring her to give something of value in return for his kindness.

Another possibility is that Ani has always been afraid of letting anyone see how she really feels,  and turns to sex to prevent her emotions from coming to the surface.  Igor, however, understands how Ani feels and holds her.  It’s only then that Ani unleashes all of the hurt and anguish she’d kept bottled up for the last several days.  Igor was able to break through Ani’s defenses because he’s in love with her for who she is, not for what she sells.

The dangers of pretending

In the beginning of the movie, we see how important Ani’s ability to pretend is to her career as a stripper. As it turns out, Ani pretending to like her patrons isn’t the only example of pretending in the story.  Ani and Vanya don’t use their real names, pretending to be someone else.  Toros, Garnik and Igor are pretending to be mobsters.  Vanya and Ani pretend to be a married couple.  Vanya’s parents pretend to be parents.  

The comedy of the movie is rooted in the repercussions of everyone pretending to be something they’re not.  Toros pretends to be a mob boss, but people see through his facade and ignore him.  Garnik and Igor pretend to be Toros’ heavies, but are no match for Ani.  Vanya’s mother pretends to be a mother, but she’s entitled and emasculating.  Only Vanya’s father, who doesn’t try to be one, is able to laugh at how ridiculous everyone else is.

Pretending and lying

A fascinating subtext of Anora is how it associates pretending with lying.  In Ani’s case, she’s an expert at pretending with–or lying to–her patrons, convincing them that she likes them in order to separate them from their money.  In that scenario, there’s also a willingness on behalf of the patrons to believe the lies they’re being told, that this pretty girl actually likes them and isn’t doing things only for the money.  Those men are lying to themselves as much as they’re being lied to by Ani, but aside from money exchanging hands, the lies are harmless.

What isn’t harmless is how Ani convinced herself that Vanya cared about her and maybe even loved her.  Admittedly, the way Ani angrily defends her marriage to Toros is born out of desperation.  However, the way she pleads with Vanya implies that deep down she possibly did come to love him and convinced herself that he felt the same way.  This is also what makes the insults Diamond lobs at Ani so hurtful.  Deep down, Ani must have known that Diamond was right, but Ani convinced herself that her dreams would come true.  In the end, Anora tells us that the lies we tell ourselves are worse than those we tell others because when we’re proven wrong, we only have ourselves to blame.

No redemption

There’s a myth rooted in American culture that a person can always reinvent themselves.  Anora makes clear that believing in that myth is foolish.  Ani is convinced that after she’s married to Vanya, people will stop seeing her as a whore, hooker, stripper, etc., and instead see her as Vanya’s wife.  While Vanya’s friends are open-minded, the older generation is not.  Toros and Vanya’s mother don’t accept that being married erases Ani’s past.  She’s still a sex worker in their eyes, and a wedding ring won’t change that.  There is no redemption arc for Ani because no matter what she does, she can’t escape the prejudices of others.