Writer-director Sean Baker’s knack for small-scale drama and unyielding empathy for social outcasts and working-class heroes comes through loud and clear in this shaggy dog comedy of errors about a New York City sex worker called Ani (Mikey Madison, in a fearless lead turn) who falls in and out of love with the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn).
In years past, the Cannes Film Festival has usually served as the Oscar race’s opening gun, and 2024 was no exception. One part Cinderella romance, one part tart-with-a-heart drama, one part screwball farce, “Anora” rode the momentum off its big Palme d’Or win into a strong awards campaign (while making headlines for all the wrong reasons after becoming a lightning rod for the public non-debate around on-set intimacy coordinators). Best Picture win or not, the film’s stellar reception should propel Mikey Madison’s acting career into the stratosphere and pretty much give “The Florida Project” director Sean Baker’s creative blank check to pursue any unrealized passion project he might be noodling on.
