“Anora”, review: One of the best films of the year

After many months of waiting, the film has finally hit theaters. Anora. The great winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival appears in cinemas to amaze audiences. Comedy, writer and director Sean Bakerwhich already several years ago shone with such films as Florida Project, Red rocket And mandarin. Now he’s launching what’s shaping up to be a favorite of the new awards season and perhaps cement himself as a top contender at the next Oscars.

Story Anora focuses on Anniea young 23-year-old erotic dancer working in a club teeming with clients. There he meets aa IvanA 21-year-old Russian multimillionaire boy who will seek his services on an increasingly exclusive basis. What begins as a relationship for money develops further and further. So, completely impulsively, they decide to get married. But an idyllic fairy tale for Annie ends up becoming a complex and complicated tragedy when the aristocratic parents Ivan They find out what happened and threaten to go to New York.

Amazing comedy

Anora This is a film that takes viewers completely unexpected. There are those who might think that since it was a Cannes Film Festival winner, it is a very inaccessible auteur film. Nothing could be further from the truth. Baker constructs a very simple and appealing film for any audience, without the need for intellectual brouhaha or pedantry. The director tells a very open and, most importantly, very funny story.

Because it all begins as a kind of tragicomedy, in which everything is as beautiful as it is uncomfortable. The main character lives in a dream situation, her life has become pretty Woman and director Anora shows that he follows the standards of this type of story Cinderella with great dexterity.

But in reality, the rancid and misogynistic smell of this world of prostitution is always present. Baker He is responsible for remembering this again and again, robbing us of the opportunity to enjoy and get carried away by the romanticism of this first part. This contradiction in moral codes is in itself very interesting. But suddenly everything changes.

Anora Starting in the first third of the film, the tone changes radically and turns into a fun drama as the main character begins to realize what a dangerous world she has found herself in. Baker conducts enormous experimentation with style, changing genres between gangster thriller, surreal comedy, prostitution drama and even farce. Everything is funny and at the same time it is impossible not to feel enormous sadness about the situation Annie. In fact, this is one of the saddest comedies ever made. It’s so different and yet so well put together that when you finish it, it feels like you’ve seen a piece of cinematic jewelry making.

human film

The main virtue of conveying the good ideas of a newspaper to the feelings of the public is the soul, which Baker prints on Anora. The director once again focuses primarily on human exploration in his story. He never hides the fact that his main character is the film. She is the one she wants us to sympathize with and the one she wants us to care about. And for this you need a natural, explosive and gentle sample. Full of contradictions and, ultimately, very alive.

The director creates a very real character who wants to conquer the world, but whose life passes him by, no matter how hard he tries to avoid it. Baker He has already plunged into the universes of the social margins. WITH Anoraoffers us a tragic heroine for whom we feel compassion, but never paternalism. The director does not judge and also requires the viewer to distance themselves from any moralism associated with her, which does not need to be applied to the rest of the main characters in the story.

It is precisely because of the lack of ethical watchtowers Baker provides full connection with Annie. So much so that even in its sensational last act Anora creates a pure conflict of class struggle through which to laugh at the dehumanized rich and their human suffering.

Rising Star

Anyway, Anora Without the main actress, the film would not have happened. Mikey Madison He has a very difficult film on his shoulders. At 25, the performer takes on one of the greatest roles of the year, making a huge leap in her career. After appearing in films such as Scream (2022) or Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood (2019), now takes the reins of power more vibrantly than ever.

Annie from Madison He is magnetic and electric, extremely expressive and deeply sensitive. With the exception of two or three scenes in almost 140 minutes, the camera always accompanies her and never becomes a burden. This is a barbaric and very brave work of the actress, who after Anoramay be called to many great things in the coming years.

As a result, Anora This is one of the best films of the year. A delightfully sad tragicomedy filmed Sean Baker in a state of grace. A sensational story that escapes from moral judgments and leaves forever the great and humane protagonist, interpreted in an imperial way Mikey Madison.

Anora It has already been released in cinemas.