‘Anora’ review: A throbbing non-fairy tale

Sean Baker’s Anora begins like a sexually explicit version of Pretty Woman – the first hint of upended expectations.

American stripper Ani (Mikey Madison), who is of Russian origin, becomes the paid escort of the filthily rich Russian student Ivan. Ivan (Mark Edelshteyn) escalates a purely transactional relationship when he suggests to Ani that they get married.

What happens in Vegas refuses to stay there. Ivan’s handlers Toros (Karren Karagulian), Garnik (Vache Tovmasyn) and Igor (Yura Borisov) turn up at his mansion in Brooklyn.

Igor has the dirty job of trying to keep Ani in check ­– no mean task. The constant threat of a visit from Ivan’s wealthy parents spooks Ivan and makes his minders hysterical but refuses to scare Ani, who has no idea what she is up against.

Sean Baker’s most ambitious project yet won him the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024. The Oscar-nominated movie, which is in both English and Russian, can be rented from Prime Video.

Unlike Baker’s previous films about marginalised Americans, Anora constantly evades clear categorisation or a single tonality. Baker, who has also written and edited Anora, has his foot firmly on the pedal throughout a film that moves suddenly from a sexually charged romance to comic farce to serious drama.

The 139-minute film...

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