Anora

There are enough themes and ideas throughout Anora for a much longer review than this one. What struck me is how piercingly, once again, Baker accentuates issues of class in contemporary society: for Anora, who gradually succumbs to Ivan’s charms, it’s a way out of her life, out of the murk into something ecstatic and promising and beautiful. She’s accepted her life, mind you, the tough badass that she is, but this goes beyond her wildest dreams, and maybe, just maybe, she can put the masquerade behind her and just be herself. For Ivan, however, it’s purely amusement; the young man is so used to possessing everything that nothing means anything anymore. It’s easy for him to shrug her off once the drugs wear off.

“Madison is spectacular, giving this role her all.”

Madison is spectacular, giving this role her all. It’s a perfectly calibrated, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-her performance that will make acting stalwarts jealous. Drew Daniels’ (one of my favorite current cinematographers) camera captures every nuance of her highly expressive face, from coy to brash, from determined to insecure. She can make men’s dreams come true; she can also tear their balls off if prompted (not literally; there is no t******e-ripping in this film). The rest of the cast is fantastic, with extra special kudos to the wonderful Borisov.

I could wax poetic about how relevant the film’s themes are in the current tempestuous climate when we are becoming more and more divided as people. (It’s refreshing to see Russians portrayed not as vodka-guzzling degenerates or the Enemy but as, you know, human beings.) I could go on and on about the filmmaker’s knack for verisimilitude, his eye for detail, the bold sex scenes, the poetic rhythms of his film, and how Hollywood’s artifice becomes so much more apparent when observing such truth. But instead – go ahead, don’t walk, run, go see for yourselves. Anora may just change your life.