Anora

Each change of tone is handled with sinuous ease by Baker, one of the best independent directors, who is finally getting the props he deserves.

Endlessly entertaining and frequently hysterical, “Anora” is one of the year’s best films and a formidable Oscar contender.

Every character in Anora might be an utter nightmare, but they’re also a joy to spend time with, and the cast understand them down to their smallest behavioural tells.

The film is very funny, until it punches you in the gut with a beautiful ending, and it entirely rests on Madison’s performance as the tough-as-nails Anora.

Like Mikey Madison’s title character, Anora is pretty, messy, witty, wild, and highly competent, one of the funniest, saddest, and best films of the year.

Anora fizzes with energy and laugh-out-loud moments, but it isn't recommended for anyone with high blood pressure. It builds into the kind of hectic farce in which not just one person is stressed: everyone is stressed.

Anora lacks the raw emotion, street energy and urgency of Baker’s transgender romp “Tangerine” — and the pathos of his acclaimed peek at childhood homelessness in the “paradise” of “The Florida Project.”

Anora brilha pela combinação de atuação, direção e roteiro, que juntos constroem uma narrativa densa e multifacetada sobre a vida de Ani, uma profissional do sexo em busca de autonomia dentro de um sistema opressor. A interpretação de Mikey Madison é o ponto alto, trazendo realismo e profundidade à personagem, que oscila entre força e vulnerabilidade com naturalidade.A direção de Sean Baker é marcada por planos longos e cuidadosos que imergem o espectador no universo do clube e na rotina desgastante de Ani, ao mesmo tempo em que a edição habilmente conecta tons diversos, da sensualidade ao drama, do humor ácido à crítica social. Essa fluidez evita que o filme se torne fragmentado, mantendo a coesão e o ritmo.O roteiro é repleto de nuances, explorando as contradições do desejo, poder e sobrevivência, sem cair em estereótipos ou simplificações. As relações entre Ani, Ivan e Igor exemplificam a complexidade da cadeia de exploração, mostrando que a opressão afeta todas as posições dentro desse sistema.Visualmente, o filme usa contrastes de cores e composições precisas para criar atmosferas emocionalmente carregadas, fazendo com que o estilo indie se integre à narrativa de forma orgânica e significativa, não como um artifício vazio.Anora se destaca como um exemplo de cinema independente que alia estética e conteúdo, oferecendo uma reflexão profunda sobre temas difíceis com sensibilidade e honestidade. Um filme que recompensa múltiplas revisões, revelando camadas que passam despercebidas numa primeira experiência.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This bloated mammoth has swallowed a good, lean 90 minute movie. At its core, you can actually find some social commentary and relatability: the jaded young woman who thinks her body is her only asset - but beneath the street smart exterior is a vulnerable naif, who wants to believe she too could have a Disney princess ending. --------- That however has been buried under a 90's rap video megamix, with interminable marathon of partying, gangsters, winding and grinding. When something finally happens plot-wise - the kidnapping and the chase - that too drags on and on, very loudly. -------- And why does Anora make her choices? In this voyeristic ad for fantasy strip club employment, you only have beautiful, healthy, fun colleagues, polite clients, and an understanding boss you lightheartedly negotiate your schedules with. What then is the urgency for Anora to escape that? ---------- Anora is left somewhere in the sidelines of men partying, men chasing, men talking. Who is she? I feel I now know more about the bit part character Igor (e.g. Anora is barely onsceen during the last night at mansion). ---------- The film is a perfect example of why you should never let one person script, direct and edit their film.

There were so many other superior films last year. Seriously, this wins the Oscar v Conclave?!

Mikey Madison puts on a good show and is probably deserving of her Oscar based solely on all the sexploitation she endured from her director. But five Oscars? Based on a story that evokes nothing in the form of humor (billed as a comedy) or romance (billed as a Cinderella story)? It's not even agitating enough to discuss because the film has no heart and soul. It has a greedy girl who sees her escape out of the "business" and runs into a brick wall. She gets what she deserves and cries at the end. I was moved to my best BM of the week. If this is inspiration, I'm not buying into it. Hopefully, the inspired are the ones who just want to get out of the prostitution business and make good lives for themselves. My guess is, however, the 17- and 18-year-olds of this world will see Anora as an advertisement for selling their bodies with hopes of luring a drunken, stupid Nepo-dude into faux matrimony.