Anora

Anora

Written and Directed by: Sean Baker
Starring: Mikey Madison
Won the Oscar for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Original Screenplay & Editing.
Spoilers Ahead. 

When you Google the film, it says it's a Romance/Comedy. While as I watched the film, it felt more like a Crime Comedy. Nevertheless, I found the film to be very original and engaging. The best part about the film is how the plot unfolds, layer by layer. You can sort of see how things could go really wrong for Anora, and you can also see how she is probably deep down aware of it and is yet signing up for things, perhaps because she wants to take her shot. Even how the film is edited, shows how there's zero chemistry between Ivan and Ani. Ivan doesn't care. It's very obvious, almost to a cartoonish point. As the family finds out and Toros comes home, there's an extended sequence at home where they tie up Ani - which even though was funny, felt a bit stretched. After that, the whole search was very funny and engaging. Even when they finally find Ivan. The film really uses the extreme differences between all the characters to create humor, tension and drama. Ani, even though probably deep down knows that Ivan doesn't love her, wants to stand up for herself. Toros and Igor are loyal, dutiful men. Ivan is out of his fucking mind. Putting all these characters together, with different motives is a brilliant way of creating chaos and comedy.

I like how the film is a brutal depiction of the divide between the haves and have-nots. Ivan is on a bender, blind to Ani's heart, while she fights for her place even though she deep down might know it's a lost cause. Ivan, he wants what he wants. Once the family comes into the picture, this is even more clear. Even though Anora doesn't get what she wants, seeing her stand up for herself in front of Ivan's family was very satisfying. The conversation between Ivan and his family was hilarious! I didn't see the Igor track coming. Though the ending was beautiful and heartbreaking, I wonder if this thematic ending suddenly came into the picture out of nowhere. Of course, the film is about a sex worker and it'd explore the repressed/masked feelings, but for the tone the film takes throughout the film, I did not see the ending coming. So I have mixed feelings about the ending. Overall, I really enjoyed watching the film and absolutely loved how original the film is!