Search - Anora (The Criterion Collection) [DVD] on DVD

B.J. W. (analogkid01) from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 7/5/2025...

"Anora" is the new film from writer/director Sean Baker, who has been praised in the past for his films "Tangerine" and "The Florida Project" (neither of which I have seen). Anora is running a 7.8/10 on IMDB, and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

So, here's why I strongly, strongly disliked this movie. (Trying to avoid abusing the H-word here. Where's my thesaurus?...)

First, a quick synopsis of the plot: New York sex worker (Anora, Mikey Madison in a fearless performance) gets hired to spend a week with the son (Ivan) of a Russian oligarch. During the course of the week they fly to Vegas for fun, and on a whim, get married. Ivan's parents get wind of this, and they're pissed. Their plan is to hire some goons to grab the couple, force them to get divorced, and fly Ivan back to Russia where he will begin his work for the family.

The first, I dunno, 25% of Anora made me think of "Marie Antoinette" (Sofia Coppola, 2006), a movie I...*abhorred*. It was little more than two storyless hours of overprivileged twentysomethings on a shopping spree, and it ended before the guillotine came to claim its bloody prize. In Anora, the overprivileged twentysomethings engage in sex, drugs, sex, vaping, sex, video games, sex, sex in New York, sex, and sex in Vegas. It's vapid but that's by design, of course, and what makes Ivan's marriage proposal so attractive to Anora - she's able to quit her job at the strip club and live a life of luxury with Ivan.

Then there's a logical tonal shift once the Russian family gets involved, and the film started making me think of "Goodfellas" (Martin Scorsese, 1990), a movie I...*detested*. Goodfellas is praised up and down by learned critics and fans alike, but I see nothing more than two hours of despicable people screaming at each other for no good reason. It's similar to the tonal shift in Anora - the Russian goons show up and everyone just starts screaming at each other with a few comedic beats thrown in.

You can do zany madcap comedic slapstick like "The Producers" or "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," that's not the problem. Like I said, I haven't seen Baker's other films so I don't know if he pulled it off better in them, but in Anora it's just grating and uncomfortable. I think Baker thinks he was making "A Fish Called Wanda," but...he definitely wasn't.

There is a sequence of true tenderness and intimacy at the end, after Anora has bonded with Igor, one of the Russian goons and probably the character with the strongest arc. But it's too little too late at that point and I really didn't care what Anora did with him.

I want to give Baker another chance - he's got a film called "Red Rocket" that's been on my radar for a while, so we'll see how that one compares.

Grade: C-minus

Walter K. (WalterKuzens) from RENO, NV
Reviewed on 5/22/2025...

A trashy prostitute gets married to a kid and there's a lot of yelling in English and Russian. This received awards? I cared so little for the characters or storyline, and did a lot of fast forwarding, only to give up and put in some Futurama.

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K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 5/21/2025...

Potential was there but Criterion jumped far too many sharks especially the final jumps.