In light of last week’s Oscar ceremony, I decided there was no better time to talk about the big winner of the night–Sean Baker’s “Anora.” Directed, produced, edited and written by Baker, the film made him the biggest winner at the 97th Academy Awards, taking home the trophies for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Picture.
The heart of this film is, without a doubt, Mikey Madison. Madison stars in her first leading role in a film as the project’s titular character, a sex worker in Brooklyn who gets her shot at her very own Cinderella story–but ends up caught in a web of confusion and underground politics that she never could have anticipated. Madison earned the Academy Award for Best Lead Actress for the performance, which challenged her in many ways, from acting in intensely intimate and vulnerable scenes to perfecting a born-and-bred Brooklyn accent.
When I first watched “Anora,” it had already been out for a few months. I didn’t do that on purpose; it was just one of those films I never had time to see in theaters. The months of purgatory between the silver screen and an accessible streaming service seemed to stretch on and on. I immediately recognized it as a wholly unique storytelling experience, and I found myself moved by Madison’s performance at several points throughout the film.
Anora is a character you can root for. She often voices the audience’s thoughts, reacting to the increasingly insane situations she gets wrapped up in with a charming–even if a little foul-mouthed–candor. Madison’s performance is due in equal measure to Baker’s writing, and while “A Real Pain” is still my favorite screenplay of 2024, I was still happy to see Baker receive critical acclaim for his role in bringing Anora to life.
One of my favorite details about this film is how carefully Baker considered the weight of names while writing the script. Although Anora is the film’s title, our heroine seldom uses that name. She often goes by Ani, but we see through her interactions with her sister that those close to her call her by her full name. The reverse can be found in Vanya—or, as his parents call him, Ivan.
The people close to each of the characters in the relationship at the film’s center never know one another well enough to start using their full, more intimate names. Anora always calls Ivan “Vanya,” and Ivan always calls Anora “Ani.” It’s a fascinating detail that I couldn’t articulate after my first watch, but upon this rewatch, I felt it much more presently–especially during the conversation where Igor specifically says Anora is “a beautiful name,” symbolizing his more genuine nature.
All in all, “Anora” deserves all the critical acclaim and accolades it has achieved. Even though it was nominated alongside some tough competition, the fact that it prevailed over some other favorites of 2024 (cough, Demi Moore, cough) does not mean that it was any less deserving of these accolades. It was a big night for a film with a small budget and production team—at least compared to other films also nominated—and featured one of the greatest rising stars of the year.
Rating: 5/5
