Anora
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.
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