A review of the award-winning film “Anora”
By the time that I belatedly caught up with this thoroughly enjoyable film, it was only hours away from winning no less than five Academy Awards, a remarkable achievement for a very low budget (only $6M), independent movie competing against the likes of “Dune: Part Two”, “A Complete Unknown” and “Conclave”. Most of those awards went to Sean Baker who garnered Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Directing and Best Film Editing as well as grabbing Best Picture.
Set in the Little Odessa district of New York City, it tells a kind of “Pretty Woman” story, except that this time the man with the money is just a video-obsessed, high-kicks, drug-fuelled kid of 19 (but the son of an ultra-rich Russian oligarch), while the prostitute is only a little older and her aural repertoire includes some Russian, some sharp put-downs and a lot of obscenity. Compared to the 1990 hit, this genre-skipping tale is much sexier, much funnier, much more violent, and ultimately much sadder. I loved it.
At the heart of the movie both literally and metaphorically is the titular Ani, a Brooklyn stripper who is played with panache by relative newcomer, 25 year old Mikey Madison. She is brilliant and reminds me of the sassy character played by Marisa Tomei in her 1992 break-out role in “My Cousin Vinny”. It was a delight to see her win the Oscar for Best Actress, beating Demi Moore who hoped to win for her incredible performance in “The Substance”.
But what do you do next when you take such a prestigious award at so young an age? I can’t wait to find out.