Sean Baker is a filmmaker who finds dignity in what many might deem despair (‘Tangerine’, ‘The Florida Project’, ‘Red Rocket’). His flawed characters are always presented as humans first, and the choices they make, no matter how ill-advised, come from a place of reason for these particular people. One can imagine him watching a Hollywood hit like ‘Pretty Woman’ and like many, reacting to that movie’s subject matter with hesitation. No matter how entertaining its fairytale-like story might be, at its core, it’s still a movie about a really rich guy who basically purchases a sex worker for a period of time. Whether intentional or not, Baker’s Palm D’Or Winner ‘Anora’ takes that basic idea and creates something wholly unique, an extremely entertaining, at turns heartbreaking and hilarious hang of a movie.

The film opens to the upbeat, harmonious strains of a remix of Britpop band Take That’s “Greatest Day” as the camera pans across strippers providing lap dances to patrons of a strip club. It’s at once provocative, alluring, mesmerizing, but also rote, workmanlike, and even hopeful, symbolizing the promise of a great night out. These early scenes present the strip club as a place of work, a place where being what the client wants can result in big tips and private dances for more dough. It’s here we’re introduced to Mikey Madison’s Ani, the titular Anora, a full name she bristles against. She’s a young woman living in Brooklyn, working all night making bank, but due to her heritage she understands Russian, so her boss nominates her to hang with a young man named Ivan, nicknamed Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), who turns out to be the son of a Russian oligarch.

Enamored with Ani, Vanya asks her if she works outside the club as an escort. It’s not entirely clear how much she engages in this type of moonlighting, but he seems harmless enough and appears to be loaded, so she agrees to make a house call. This turns into a more extended act of service as Vanya offers to pay her $15K to be his girlfriend for a week. Everything to this point, and what follows, is an absolutely exhilarating thrill ride as the audience experiences what Ani does – intense partying, a last minute decision to fly private to Vegas, all accompanied by rollicking rap and pop music. What’s really interesting about these scenes is that for as fun as everything looks, there is also subtle attention paid to the various support staff around these activities, from the housekeepers, to the concierge, to the people administering the young “couple” IV drips to keep the party going. Like any Sean Baker film, it’s obvious that these are the people he’s interested in, and Ani is one of these people, no matter what Ivan is telling her.

There’s a surprise twist that occurs while the two main characters are in Las Vegas, telegraphed as a harbinger of potential doom. This turn of events serves as a catalyst to the truly wild ride which constitutes the remainder of the movie. The narrative abruptly shifts, retaining Madison’s Ani, now a passenger in scenes that unfurl with a pacing so unique that it shouldn’t work, but does. At this point, three new male characters, also beholden to Vanya’s family, are introduced. They’re played wonderfully by Baker regular Karren Karagulian (a bunch of familiar faces from other Sean Baker films show up sporadically as well) as Toros, Vache Tovmasyon as his burly but tepid brother Garnick, and most notably Yura Borisov as Igor, brought along as the heavy. The remaining significant runtime of the movie is basically a romp with flashes of danger over the course of about two days, best left to experience. Needless to say what transpires is as wild as any New York City overnight jaunt, a genre in itself. It’s all capped by a languid denouement that even further elevates this material, and is sure to garner conflicting takes amongst viewers and critics.

‘Anora’ would not work without its fully committed center. Mikey Madison is quite frankly a revelation here. Baker was prescient to cast her. While her previous roles have been memorable, nothing in her filmography hints at what she does here. She is supported by working strippers who helped consult on the film, as well as a group of actors who revolve around her, which leads to a mutual push-pull of authenticity and a confidence that she exudes in every interaction. Her character is complex, a person who recognizes what she is being used for, takes advantage where she can, but is also beholden to a life of hustle. She doesn’t revile her occupation, but she doesn’t exactly love it either – who can’t relate?

Written & Directed By: Sean Baker

Running Time: 139 min.

Rated: R

* * * * (out of 4 stars) -OR- A