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''Anora'' is a 2024 American romantic
comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film written, directed, produced, and edited by
Sean Baker Sean Baker (born February 26, 1971) is an American filmmaker. He is a director, writer, editor, and producer of Independent film, independent narrative feature films which are most often about the lives of marginalized people, especially immi ...
. It stars
Mikey Madison Mikaela Mikey Madison Rosberg (born March 25, 1999) is an American actress. She began her career acting in short films and received recognition for her role as a sullen teenager in the FX (TV channel), FX comedy series ''Better Things (TV se ...
as Anora "Ani" Mikheeva, a stripper from New York who marries the wealthy son of a
Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs () are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownership ...
played by Mark Eydelshteyn. The supporting cast includes Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Darya Ekamasova, and Aleksei Serebryakov. ''Anora'' premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2024, where it received critical acclaim and won the
Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
. It was released theatrically on October 18, 2024, by
Neon Neon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is the second noble gas in the periodic table. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with approximately two-thirds the density of ...
. The film grossed $59.3million worldwide against a $6million budget, making it Baker's highest-grossing film. ''Anora'' received numerous accolades. The film was named one of the top ten films of 2024 by the
National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...
and the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
. The film received six nominations at the
97th Academy Awards The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly r ...
, winning five for
Best Picture The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...
,
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...
, Best Actress (Madison),
Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
, and Best Film Editing. It also received seven nominations at the
78th British Academy Film Awards The 78th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTAs, was a ceremony held on 16 February 2025, honouring films of any nationality that were screened in British cinemas in 2024 in film, 2024. The ...
, winning two, five at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, three at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards and won the 70th David di Donatello for International Movie.


Plot

Anora "Ani" Mikheeva, a 23-year-old
stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at private events. Modern forms of stripping m ...
, lives in
Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...
, a Russian-American neighborhood in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York City. Her boss introduces her to Ivan "Vanya" Zakharov, the 21-year-old son of the
Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs () are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownership ...
Nikolai Zakharov, who requests someone fluent in Russian. Though Vanya is in the U.S. to study, he spends most of his time partying in clubs and playing video games in his parents' lavish Brooklyn mansion. Vanya hires Anora for several sexual encounters. He invites her to a New Year's Eve party at the mansion, and the following day, he offers her $15,000 to be his girlfriend for a week. During the week, Anora parties with Vanya and his friends, and they all go on an extravagant trip to Las Vegas. At the end of the trip, Vanya reveals that he has to return to Russia permanently to work at his father's company and expresses disdain for his parents. He suggests that he will not have to leave if he marries an American and impulsively proposes marriage. Anora is reluctant at first but agrees after Vanya assures her that his feelings are genuine. They elope at a Vegas wedding chapel. Vanya then buys her a large wedding ring and an expensive fur coat. She resigns from her job and moves into Vanya's mansion. When news of their marriage reaches Russia, Vanya's mother, Galina, orders his Armenian godfather, Toros, to find them and arrange an
annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning alm ...
while she and his father, Nikolai, fly to the U.S. Toros sends his henchmen, Garnik and Igor, to the mansion. They inform Vanya that his parents are taking him back to Russia and enrage Anora by calling her a prostitute, suggesting Vanya only married her for a
green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...
. Vanya flees the premises, and Anora engages in a violent struggle with Garnik and Igor before they restrain her. When Toros arrives, he tells Anora that Vanya's mansion and wealth belong to his parents and that he is immature and financially dependent on them. He confiscates her wedding ring, gags her, and offers her $10,000 for the annulment. Anora insists she and Vanya are in love, but she agrees to help find him. Anora, Toros, Garnik, and Igor search Brooklyn. Anora learns from friends that Vanya is at her former strip club, where he is being entertained by Diamond, a rival dancer. They drag Vanya out of the club, but he is too intoxicated to listen to them, and the group is forced to wait outside the courthouse overnight. The annulment is dismissed since the marriage took place in Nevada. At the airport, Anora introduces herself to Nikolai and Galina in Russian, but Galina rejects her. Conceding to his parents, Vanya coldly tells Anora their marriage must end while Galina orders everyone onto a plane to Las Vegas. Having not signed a
prenuptial agreement A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple before marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the legal ...
, Anora pledges to file for a divorce settlement, but Galina threatens her with financial ruin if she does not comply. Realizing Vanya's cowardice and his family's power, Anora signs the annulment papers. Igor suggests Vanya apologize to Anora, but Galina objects. Anora insults both Vanya and Galina before leaving, telling Galina that Vanya only married her to spite her. Igor takes Anora back to New York to collect her belongings. At the mansion, she confronts Igor about their encounter, accusing him of assault and saying he would have raped her if they had been alone; Igor assures her he is simply not a rapist and had no intention of doing so. The next morning, Igor gives Anora the money Toros promised her and drives her home. In the car, he returns her wedding ring as a token of goodwill. Moved by the gesture, Anora initiates sex with him but stops when he tries to kiss her; she breaks down and sobs in his arms.


Cast


Production

The director,
Sean Baker Sean Baker (born February 26, 1971) is an American filmmaker. He is a director, writer, editor, and producer of Independent film, independent narrative feature films which are most often about the lives of marginalized people, especially immi ...
, said ''Anora'' was inspired by a story from a friend about a Russian-American newlywed kidnapped for collateral. He was also inspired by his work in 2000 and 2001, when he edited wedding videos, including ones of Russian-Americans in New York. Baker said his intentions were towards "telling human stories, by telling stories that are hopefully universal ..It's helping remove the stigma that's been applied to ex work that's always been applied to this livelihood." Baker hired Andrea Werhun, a Canadian writer and actress known for her 2018 memoir ''Modern Whore'' about her prior time as a sex worker, as a creative consultant. Baker cast
Mikey Madison Mikaela Mikey Madison Rosberg (born March 25, 1999) is an American actress. She began her career acting in short films and received recognition for her role as a sullen teenager in the FX (TV channel), FX comedy series ''Better Things (TV se ...
after seeing her in ''
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ''Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica, and distributed by Sony Pict ...
'' (2019) and '' Scream'' (2022). He hired Madison without an audition. Madison learned Russian, visited strip clubs, and studied the Brooklyn accent to prepare. Although some media outlets incorrectly reported that Anora Mikheeva was Uzbek-American, Baker said that Anora "is of Russian ethnicity" and "from one of the
post-Soviet countries The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
".
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
took place starting in February 2023 in Brooklyn, including the neighborhoods of
Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...
,
Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...
, and
Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * '' Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central ...
. ''Anora'' was filmed over 37 days, with the 25-minute home invasion scene taking 10 days. It was shot on
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...
35 mm film framed in
4-perf Negative pulldown is the manner in which an image is exposed on a film stock, described by the number of film perforations spanned by an individual frame. It can also describe whether the image captured on the negative is oriented horizontally ...
widescreen
anamorphic Anamorphic format is a cinematography technique that captures widescreen images using recording media with narrower native Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios. Originally developed for 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film to create widescreen pres ...
using an Arricam LT, with
color correction Color correction is a process used in stage lighting, photography, television, cinematography, and other disciplines, which uses color gels, or filters, to alter the overall color of the light. Typically the light color is measured on a scale k ...
completed via
DaVinci Resolve DaVinci Resolve is a proprietary color grading, color correction, visual effects, and audio post-production video editing application for macOS, Windows, and Linux, developed by Australian company Blackmagic Design. It was originally deve ...
at FotoKem. Vintage
LOMO LOMO () is a manufacturer of medical and motion-picture lenses and equipment based in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company was awarded three Order of Lenin decorations by the Soviet Union. Its Lomo LC-A consumer camera was the inspiration for ...
prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
and
zoom lens A zoom lens is a system of camera lens elements for which the focal length (and thus angle of view) can be varied, as opposed to a fixed-focal-length (FFL) lens (''prime lens''). A true zoom lens or optical zoom lens is a type of '' parfocal ...
es were mainly used for filming, while Atlas Orion lenses were used for low-light scenes. Scenes were also shot at the
Palms Casino Resort Palms Casino Resort is a hotel and casino located near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. It includes 703 rooms and a casino. It was originally owned by th ...
and on
Fremont Street Fremont Street is a street in Downtown Las Vegas, downtown Las Vegas, Nevada that is the second-most famous street in both the Las Vegas Valley and in the state of Nevada, after the Las Vegas Strip. It is named in honor of explorer and politicia ...
in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. The film's cinematography was inspired by 1970s crime dramas set in New York, including '' The French Connection'' and '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three''. Alex Coco, one of the producers, worked as a disc jockey for the music in the scenes in the club. Baker is credited with the casting, with the cast including more than 30 different speaking parts. For the Zakharov mansion, Baker filmed at 2458 National Drive, a Mill Basin mansion once owned by
Vasily Anisimov Vasily Anisimov (; born 19 September 1951) is a Soviet and Croatian billionaire businessman who made his fortune in Russia in a variety of industries, including aluminium, real estate and vodka production. He is also a former president of the R ...
, an oligarch with ties to Russia. Baker had searched on
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
for "the biggest and best mansion in Brighton Beach". To learn more about the area, Baker and Mikey Madison temporarily moved to southern Brooklyn during pre-production. Toros and Ani's search for Vanya was filmed in several restaurants and clubs that the producers had frequented. At a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival, Madison said that Baker and the producer Samantha Quan, Baker's wife, would act out different sex positions to demonstrate what they wanted the actors to do. Madison was offered an intimacy coordinator, but said: "As I'd already created a really comfortable relationship with both of them for about a year, I felt that that would be where I was most comfortable with and it ended up working so perfectly." The soundtrack includes
Robin Schulz Robin Alexander Schulz (; born 28 April 1987) is a German musician, DJ, and record producer. On 4 February 2014, he released the first single from his debut album, a remix of "Waves (Mr. Probz song), Waves" by Dutch hip hop artist Mr. Probz. T ...
rework of " Greatest Day" by
Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...
and "
All the Things She Said "All the Things She Said" is a song by Russian music duo t.A.T.u. from their first English-language studio album, '' 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane'' (2002). The song was first released in the United States as a DVD single on 13 August 2002, then ...
" by
t.A.T.u. t.A.T.u. (, ) were a Russian pop duo consisting of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. The two started out as part of the children's musical group Neposedy before being managed by producer and director Ivan Shapovalov and signing with Russian reco ...
Madison also said that her friend curated a "stripper playlist" for her to get into character, including tracks from
Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...
,
Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Megan initially gained recognition when videos of her freestyling began to circulate widely on social me ...
and
Slayyyter Catherine Grace Garner (born September 17, 1996), known professionally as Slayyyter, is an American singer and songwriter. She started her career independently releasing songs through SoundCloud. She released one of her first musical projects " ...
.


Release

Worldwide distribution rights were acquired by
FilmNation Entertainment FilmNation Entertainment, LLC is an American entertainment company focused on film production, financing, and distribution. History 2008–2012: Founding FilmNation Entertainment is an independent film production and distribution company co-f ...
in October 2023. The film was then sold by FilmNation to Le Pacte for France, Lev Cinemas for Israel, Kismet Movies for Australia and New Zealand, and
Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...
/
Universal Pictures International Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American film production and distribution company headquartered at the Universal Studios complex in Universal City, ...
for the rest of the world excluding North America in deals similar to those made on Baker's previous film, '' Red Rocket''. In November 2023,
Neon Neon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is the second noble gas in the periodic table. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with approximately two-thirds the density of ...
acquired North American distribution rights to the film, and opened it in
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on October 18, 2024. ''Anora'' premiered at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
on May 21, 2024, and won the festival's
Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
on May 25. It earned a 10-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening. It became the fifth consecutive Palme d'Or winner distributed by Neon in the United States, and the first American-produced film to win the Palme d'Or since
Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (; born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. Malick began his career as part of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers and received awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and ...
's 2011 epic '' The Tree of Life''. ''Anora'' also played at the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
, the
New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...
, the
San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...
, the
Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...
, the
BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...
, the
Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...
and several others. It was also the closing film at the
MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 The MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 took place between 19 and 24 October 2024 in Mumbai, India. It was the first edition of the festival under interim festival director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, following the departure of Anupama Chopra from the ...
. The film was released on digital platforms on December 17, 2024, with a streaming release on
Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
on March 17, 2025. It was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray by
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
on April 29. According to Tom Quinn, CEO of Neon, the P&A and the awards season publicity campaign budget was $18million.


Home media

''Anora'' was released on home media as part of the
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
on April 29, 2025, on standard
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray formats, based on a new 4K master overseen by director Sean Baker. This release also includes two audio commentary tracks, one with Baker, producers Alex Coco and Samantha Quan, and cinematographer Drew Daniels, and another one with Baker and actors Yura Borisov, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Mikey Madison, and Vache Tovmasyan, as well as a making-of documentary, interviews with Baker and Madison, a recording of the film's press conference at the Cannes Film Festival, deleted scenes, audition footage, trailers, and essays written by writer Dennis Lim and author Kier-La Janisse.


Reception


Box office

, ''Anora'' had grossed $20.5million in the United States and Canada, and $38.8million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $59.3million. In the United States, the film made $550,503 in its opening weekend from six theaters; its per-screen-average of $91,751 was the best of 2024 (topping '' Kinds of Kindness'' $75,458 average), and the second-best since the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
(after ''
Asteroid City ''Asteroid City'' is a 2023 American Science fiction film, science fiction comedy drama film written, directed, and produced by Wes Anderson, from a story he wrote with Roman Coppola. It features an ensemble cast, including Jason Schwartzman, ...
''s $142,230). Expanding to 34 theaters in its second weekend, the film made $908,830 and finished in eighth place. Continuing its expansion, the film made $1.8million from 253 theaters and $2.5million from 1,104 in its third and fourth weekends. In its 21st week of release in March, following its five Oscar wins, the film was added to 1,130 theaters (for a total of 1,938) and made $1.8million (an increase of 574% from the previous week), finishing in seventh.


Critical response

On
AlloCiné AlloCiné is an entertainment website founded by Jean-David Blanc in 1988, then joined by Patrick Holzman. It has belonged to the company since 2013 Webedia. which specializes in providing information on French cinema, mostly centering on nove ...
, the film received an average rating of 4.2 out of 5, based on 45 reviews, from French critics.
Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig ( ; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. Initially known for working on various mumblecore films, she has since expanded from acting in and co-writing independent films to directing ...
, serving as the president of the 77th Cannes Film Festival Jury, commented that " 'Anora''was something we collectively felt we were transported by, we were moved by ..It felt both new and in conversation with older forms of cinema. There was something about it that reminded us of heclassic structures of Lubitsch or
Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter of the Classical Hollywood cinema, classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American ...
, and then it did something completely truthful and unexpected." Richard Lawson of '' Vanity Fair'' wrote: " 'Anora'' isa wild, profane blast ..Even when Baker's storytelling and dialogue gets repetitive, Madison keeps things lively ..Still, a darkness thrums under the surface of all this flirting and bickering. Ani is forever yanked this way and that, degraded and disregarded ..I found myself torn between finding Baker's conclusions compassionate and sensing a vague whiff of something patronizing."
Justin Chang Justin Choigee Chang is an American film critic and columnist currently working at ''The New Yorker''. He previously worked for '' Variety'' and for ''Los Angeles Times''. His 2023 reviews at the ''Times'' won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Critici ...
of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' wrote: "''Anora'' plays like a wild dream—first joyous, then catastrophic, and always fiercely unpredictable ..A contemporary return to screwball tradition is a welcome but challenging proposition, and Baker's play with the form is hardly seamless. 'Anora''built up a righteous steam of fury, now unleashes it against the Ivans of the world and salutes those toiling thanklessly in their employ." ''
Sight and Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' named ''Anora'' the second-best film of 2024, and ''
Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film ...
'' named it one of the ten best. In 2025, ''
Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
'' ranked the film at number 36 on its list of "The 40 Best Movies of the 2020s", with Jeremy Urquhart terming it "something of a modern classic". ''Anora'' was praised by many filmmakers and actors. In March 2025, '' IndieWire'' ranked it at number 46 on its list of "The 47 Best Romance Movies of the 21st Century," with Wilson Chapman calling it "exactly the type of love affair only he akercould write: funny, lewd, sexy, tempered by class and financial considerations, and ultimately quite tragic and brutally real." However, one commentator, Russian-Jewish screenwriter , found it difficult to reconcile support for the film, given the ongoing
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
; he commented in the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' on February 27, 2025, "Its Oscar nominations, especially the best supporting actor one for Yura Borisov, have been touted by some as a national victory in Russia. Which puts me in the unsettling position of being in some truly terrible company in cheering for it."


Reaction from sex workers

''Anora'' received praise from some
sex work Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volun ...
ers for its depiction of the profession, which they described as a step forward from films of the past that tended to portray sex work as a social transgression worthy of condemnation. In a piece for ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
'', Risdon Roberts contrasted the character of Ani with Vivian Ward in ''
Pretty Woman ''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and written by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), ...
'', writing the former "is not a desperate or trafficked waif, nor is she a
hooker with a heart of gold The "hooker with a heart of gold" is a classic Stock character, character archetype, portraying a courtesan or sex worker who embodies virtues like kindness, generosity, and integrity, despite her morally complex profession. This figure often ser ...
. Baker doesn't even set out to make niworthy of ''sympathy''—instead, we're in awe of her prowess as she works the floor of a high-end strip club while the opening credits play ... Right away, it's clear that we're rooting for Ani not because she's down and out like Vivian—we're rooting for her because she's shrewd and in control". Tiff Smith said, "We're seeing a fully developed character doing sex work without their profession defining them—that's what representation really is." Some said Baker's hiring of sex workers for the production as consultants and cast members was reflected in the film's attention to detail like the mundane realities of strip club life and labor issues. Others felt that the film reverted to regressive stereotypes about sex workers as downtrodden and "in need of saving". A UK-based sex worker commented that the film "rehashes the 'traumatised, vulnerable sex worker' trope, which we've seen a thousand times before". Marla Cruz opined that little is revealed about Ani's life outside of sex work, and that an exploration of the "boundary between Ani the person and Ani the worker" is absent. Ayanna Dozier wrote "the film narratively builds upon and follows the social imaginaries of sex workers as subhuman projections for other people's fantasies". Cruz wrote that it is debatable "whether Ani becomes more clear-eyed about her relationship to power, men, and money throughout the film". Though Roberts appreciated the film generally, she critiqued the ending, writing that for real-life sex workers, the true goal is not to be saved by a man, but "is about ''survival'' (or, ideally, transcending the need to survive)". She added that rather than representing the knights in shining armor archetype, "Clients are a means to an end. Money can't break your heart."


Reception in Russia

The film has apparently had a mixed response in Russia, with some critics comparing it to a re-hashing of ''Pretty Woman''. ''Anora'' has also been portrayed as a "national victory" and a sign of warming cultural relations between Russia and the West.


Accolades

''Anora'' won the
Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated for five awards at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, seven at the
78th British Academy Film Awards The 78th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTAs, was a ceremony held on 16 February 2025, honouring films of any nationality that were screened in British cinemas in 2024 in film, 2024. The ...
(winning Best Actress and Best Casting) and six at the
97th Academy Awards The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly r ...
with Baker, Madison, and Borisov receiving nominations at each ceremony. The film won five Academy Awards, including
Best Picture The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...
, becoming the fourth film (after ''
The Lost Weekend ''The Lost Weekend'' is a 1945 American drama film noir directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman. It was based on Charles R. Jackson's 1944 novel about an alcoholic writer. The film was nominated for seven Academy Aw ...
'', '' Marty'', and ''
Parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
'') to win both it and the highest award at Cannes. Baker equalled the record set by
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
for the most Academy Awards won by a person in one year and is the only person to win all four for the same film. The
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
and the
National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...
named ''Anora'' as one of the top 10 films of 2024. At the
30th Critics' Choice Awards The 30th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on February 7, 2025, at the Santa Monica Airport#Barker Hangar, Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, California, honoring the finest achievements of filmmaking and television ...
, it became the first film to only win Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture and none of its other six nominations.


See also

*
Social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
*
List of American films of 2024 The following is a list of American films released in 2024. The year featured a diverse array of cinematic productions, ranging from major studio blockbusters to independent and streaming platform releases. The 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, i ...
* List of American independent films *
List of films that most frequently use the word fuck The use of profanity in films has often been controversial but has increased significantly in recent decades. The Hays Code banned the use of profanity outright, but the Motion Picture Association established a system of ratings to use as a g ...


References


External links

* *
Official Screenplay
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