Knock on Wood

Remember Pretty Woman? Of course you do. It’s only one of the biggest rom-coms of all time, it earned Julia Roberts her first Oscar nomination, and remains a widely quoted and beloved film to this day.

So, here’s the elevator pitch: Let’s do a re-imagining of Pretty Woman, but instead of our young sex worker and the eccentric millionaire falling madly in love and living happily ever after, we ground the film in reality, showcase sex work in an honest light, have our characters talk like actual human beings, and have our lovebird’s relationship fail in spectacularly entertaining fashion. Oh, and for good measure, there are shady Russian businessmen (mobsters?) running around causing chaos.

That’s Anora. And it’s fan-fucking-tastic.

Anora is an erotic, hilarious, and deeply impacting emotional film. It lets us bask in director Sean Baker’s perspective on Americana, its broken dream, and the ever-expanding wealth gap and classism rotting at the country’s core. It delights at Mikey Madison’s powerfully raw, widely ranging, and star-making performance that’s destined to put her on the map. It entertains with a crackling tale that flies by at a bristling pace making for a well-rounded and fulfilling experience. And it’s a brutally honest Pretty Woman for the modern age that, although it will never be nearly as commercially successful, it vastly surpasses it in terms of quality.

Now, Baker is no stranger to crafting compelling narratives that circle around sex work or the collapse of the American Dream. He’s done this before with Red Rocket, The Florida Project, Tangerine, and Starlet. But it’s here with Anora that Baker’s indie qualities and sensibilities feel most well-suited for mainstream consumption. You can see and feel all of the trademark tendencies that make this feel like an independent film, and the filmmaking is better for it, but with a story this rich and surprisingly relatable, it makes this a Baker experience that’s an easy pill to swallow, when some of his work can be divisive and off-putting to many. That’s because, beneath the drug- and alcohol-fueled parties, rampant amounts of sexual proclivities, and insane cat-and-mouse chase sequences with Russian businessmen, this still has a ton of humor and heart.

I would go so far as to say that this is one of the funniest films of the year. There’s an extended scene to open the second act of this film that takes place inside a mansion where our titular Anora, called Ani throughout most of the film, is caught off-guard when her partner runs away and she is left to defend herself against seeming home invaders. In the hands of anyone but Baker, this would be a completely stress-inducing scene, uncomfortable at its best. But Baker elevates the material such that this scene becomes one of the most entertaining and funny parts of the entire film. Littered with hilarious physical comedy and side-splitting dialogue, this nearly half-hour-long scene will leave you in stitches. The most impressive part though is how the scene evokes all of that laughter while sneakily delivering a significant amount of exposition and setting up terrific character and emotional turns for the third act. The movie is full of moments like this. Scenes that are working double or triple duty to entertain, expand on the narrative, develop our characters, and provide rich emotional catharsis.

There is a natural flow to the entire film that is staggeringly impressive; it was very common to transition from heavy bouts of laughter into aggressive scenes full of tension. The tone of the film is ever-shifting, and I mean that as a compliment. While most movies would certainly not be able to juggle such a balance, Anora pulls it off perfectly. So much so that when we get to the final moments of the film, where the emotional toll of the journey is taken out of our characters and we see the weight of their decisions falling upon Ani, I buy every second of it. The catharsis is real. Thick and palpably powerful. It is that gut punch of an ending that serves as the perfect capstone to a fantastic film.

You have to give a lot of respect to Baker for crafting such an entertaining film that still has so much to say. The laissez-faire casual attitude that the rich and powerful have towards the rest of the world is on full display. Baker shows us how it’s all a game to those with money. The actual pain and suffering they exact on other human beings is inconsequential to the fun and entertainment that they crave. If you didn’t want to eat the rich before this movie, you certainly will want to afterward. Or, maybe more aptly put, I couldn’t imagine where you wouldn’t want to. The disgusting way in which this film presents the crassness and uncaring nature of the rich will make your blood boil, especially when juxtaposed against the worldview of the middle class and the poor. What is presented as a game to those in power is portrayed as a lifeline to salvation by anyone else. At one point, there’s even an analogy regarding the fairy tale classic Cinderella, and it’s frighteningly accurate. Here’s your opportunity to be rescued from the squalors. To find some amount of salvation and happiness. To go live in a castle, have everything you ever desired, never having to worry or stress ever again. To live happily ever after. But to have something so beautiful and attractive ripped away from you due to the callous nature of the privileged and well-off…there’s an honest coldness to this movie that almost cannot be quantified.

That broken American Dream is at the core of this film. It is the crux of the themes. The very fact that we live in a time of greater wealth disparagement than was seen during the French Revolution is on full display in a movie like this. Very clearly, Baker has a lot of thoughts on the matter and directly articulates his disdain for those with the opportunity to make a difference in the world who would rather choose to sit back and make the situation worse.

Beyond the thematic elements of this film, the actual romance narrative beats are intriguing and relatable. Who amongst us hasn’t fallen for the pomp and circumstance? Maybe it’s because of someone that’s incredibly attractive, or someone that has money or opportunity attached to them. Whatever the reason, it’s easy to be blinded and not see true kindness and attraction in front of you. The way this movie gives the middle finger to the Pretty Woman relationship dynamic while presenting us with a more sincere reality as to what love and respect actually look like is so endearing.

It’s worth taking note of how this film handles sex as well. In an era where sex is, seemingly, ritualistically being taken out of film more and more, as if American audiences are too prude to handle sex but we can handle relentless violence in movies like Terrifier as if it’s not a problem whatsoever, is frustrating. When we can’t have honest depictions of sex, and can’t show sex, we can’t have honest conversations about what sex means in our culture and in relationships. It was refreshing to see how erotic this film was, that it chose to not shy away from what sex work actually looks like, and how it might be to live within that industry. It simultaneously served the purpose of shining a spotlight on the ‘honeymoon’ phase of a relationship, reminding us all how intoxicating and exotic that time can be. It’s easy to understand how you can get swept away and blinded by such a sexy haze. While this film is absolutely shot from a male gaze that might not be to everyone’s liking, I would still argue that, especially given the narrative in the story this movie is telling, this amount of eroticism is necessary to fully understand these characters and the world they inhabit, and this was about the best way you could show it. Especially considering the final scene of the movie, and how that’s filmed in comparison to most of the sex on display in the first act of the movie, you truly get the feeling that Baker knows exactly what he’s doing here with his portrayal of sex.

A lot of the credit that goes towards the success of this movie has to go to Mikey Madison. She is absolutely spectacular throughout. It’s more likely than not that you’ve only been exposed to her in the past when it comes to films like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 2022’s Scream. But while she might have simply been entertaining before, here she is transfixing. The brash exterior she crafts for the Ani character might be all you see on the surface, but she’s clearly so much more than that. Even that crassness, that rough edge, is highly nuanced and entertaining as hell. Her line deliveries are bold, and she exhibits zero restraint in her physicality, which makes for a hilarious and compelling experience. When she does get moments to exhibit range, introspection, and vulnerability, she pounces, capitalizing on the opportunity. It is because of her that the final moments of this film work so well, that the catharsis is earned. It’s all in Madison’s hands, and she expertly presents a gift to the audience.

There are other great supporting turns throughout this film, notably from Mark Eydelshteyn and Yura Borisov, but it’s Madison’s performance that, rightfully, will steal all of your attention. She will be the focus of almost all the discourse and conversation coming out of this movie, and she deserves every second of that attention. Here’s to hoping she sees some looks for her stupendous performance during awards season.

Anora is nothing short of a masterpiece. A brilliant work of art that has something deeply profound to say while entertaining the hell out of its audience. A bleak, yet charming modern fairytale. Unequivocally, it’s one of the best movies of the year, and I sincerely hope it’s Baker’s breakthrough at the Academy into sincere awards consideration, because accolades like Best Original Screenplay and Best Director should be on the table as possibilities for him. Anora absolutely deserves that level of recognition. I mean, it’s already this year’s Palme d’Or winner from Cannes. Why stop there? Let’s see if a Best Picture glass slipper could possibly fit…

Anora is playing in theaters now.