Anora review: Mikey Madison delivers a star-making performance in Sean Baker's wild fairy tale gone haywire

Anora review: There's a curious case of censorship hidden somewhere in the delayed release of Anora, Sean Baker's delightful and heartbreaking screwball tragicomedy of sorts. Originally scheduled for a theatrical release last year in November, the Oscar-winning film now hits the streaming platform directly, without any cuts. Whatever may be the push and pull that led to its delayed release here, Anora still remains a must-watch. (Also read: Anora director Sean Baker makes Oscars history with 4 wins for the same movie)

The premise

Mikey Madison plays the titular 23-year-old heroine, an exotic dancer from Brighton Beach, who insists on being called Ani. The introductory scenes establish her as a confident woman strutting her way through the Manhattan strip club and charming her way through horny men, playing by the rules. All her smiles, gestures and exchanges are strictly transactional.

This unassuming routine takes a backseat when she meets Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), who has asked for a dancer who speaks Russian. Ani's Russian is just okay to pass through, and the two share an instant flirtatious spark. Turns out he is the son of a Russian oligarch. Before she knows it, he has invited her to his mansion for a New Year's party, taken her to Los Angeles for a week for a $15,000 deal, and popped the question of marriage.

The fairytale ends soon

Baker films this entire passage with extraordinary vivacity, observing Ani's wide-eyed wonder from a distance. However, Ani's dream-like Cinderella story lasts only a few days, as news of the marriage reaches Ivan's parents. They tell their regular guy Toros (Karren Karagulian) to put an end to this, and he, in turn, sends Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (a fantastic turn from Yura Borisov) to fix this as soon as possible.

This leads to a riotously funny extended sequence when Ani is left to deal with the two men. She punches and bites, shouts and kicks her way through these bumbling fools who do not know what to make of the situation. Baker does well by subverting the trope of these ‘tough guys’. They are just as human, trying to do their job without getting fired. Ani sees her fairytale crashing, but holds on to her faith that the marriage cannot be annulled. She must now help the men find Vanya. From here on, Anora shifts gears, taking frenzied, chaotic and panic-stricken turns to hard-set reality.

Mikey Madison is breathtaking

Anora is ultimately a tale of class and privilege, a story of an unlikely group of people constantly made aware that they are powerless in the hands of the rich. Ani's realisation hits more acutely, as she is humiliated by the people around her and treated like a cheap transaction that must not be acknowledged in public. The slippery tone of Anora, sliding from being devastatingly sad to uproariously silly, is executed brilliantly by Baker. Only Igor sees Ani as a person, a young woman whose hopes crash violently in a few days. Russian actor Yura Borisov, so charismatic and alive in his silences, steals every scene he is in.

The final gut punch of Anora is in Sean Baker's decision to suggest what these characters will do after the movie ends. It is a moment of emotional vitality and unexpected truth, delivered with the help of Mikey Madison's wondrous performance. Baker gifts the actor a role of a lifetime, and she handles it with exquisite depth and nuance. Her Ani is a woman who believes the happy ending she deserves, until she can no longer see that dream coming true. Her hard-earned resilience is the heart and soul of Anora, as you root for her every step of the way. Anora is a masterful and electrifying work, a kind of film that makes the viewer see the world anew with more kindness and care.