29/15
Chronology
Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, impulsively meets and marries the son of an oligarch
When news reaches Russia, her fairy tale is threatened when his parents head to New York to annul the marriage. IMDb editor Arno Kazarian offers quick thoughts on 12 films he screened at the 2024 New York Film Festival, including Anora and the dangerous and curiously erotic Misericordia. At the Cannes Film Festival press conference, Mikey Madison said that director Sean Baker would act out different sexual positions with his wife, producer Samantha Quan, to demonstrate to the actors what he wanted them to do.
Referenced in Close-Up: Anora (2024)
The setup is compelling. Mikey Madison plays the title role, a lap dancer from New York. Then the story hooks us.
There’s a standout performance from Madison, but all the performances are good
She recklessly marries (the immature son of a Russian oligarch) and then finds herself in a terrible situation. The abundance of nudity and sex is unfashionable for a mainstream film, but both that and the intense drama—which is increasingly comic—have a rare vibrancy. The striking locations, too—Las Vegas and Coney Island in the off-season—are expertly captured.
The conclusion isn’t a disappointment
At over two hours, it’s too long, but it almost holds your attention because you can’t imagine how it’s going to end. The London Film Festival screenings sold out, and I’m not surprised. This is dynamic stuff from a fearless director.