Anyone who decided to catch up with Anora because of Oscar buzz might find themselves confused early on. The movie begins as a Cinderella story with a sex worker in the princess role and the son of a Russian oligarch as the prince, and then switches to a broad farce that veers between slapstick comedy and genuine menace. Why, a first-time viewer might reasonably wonder, do people consider this one of the best movies of 2024?
The answer comes at the very bitter end. After a frantic and exhausting 138 minutes, Anora slows to an intimate close. The sudden shift is deliberate, completely reframing what came before and revealing a vulnerability and humanity that was always there, hidden under the chaos.
Controlling the Chaos
Toward the end of Anora‘s first act, Ani (Mikey Madison) arrives at the house of the incredibly rich Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn) to perform a private strip tease. Director Sean Baker and cinematographer Drew Daniels shoot the dance as a full Hollywood spectacle. A loud hip hop song fills the soundtrack, almost drowning out Vanya’s approving commentary. The camera moves up and down Madison’s body, combining our gaze with Ivan’s. As Ani climbs on top of Ivan to complete the scene, light pours in from the windows, giving the image a dreamlike haze. It’s big and it’s dreamy, and it’s all in Ani’s control.
This small moment captures the tone of Anora‘s first act. From the opening credits in a handsomely lit strip club to Ivan and Ani’s post-nuptial whirlwind through Las Vegas, both set to a gauzy remix of the Take That anthem “Greatest Day,” the first 45 minutes of Anora are all excess, amped up to 1000. It’s not just the obvious sexual desire represented by the dancers. It’s the romance in Ivan and Ani’s promises to one another, it’s the perfect blue sky and partiers in the casino, it’s the triumph that Ani feels as she walks out of her job at the club, no longer a working stiff.
In the second act, the tone shifts as various forces try to break up the marriage. First, it’s Toros (Karren Karagulian), acting as a representative of Vanya’s parents, who demands that the marriage be annulled. Then it’s Ivan himself, who disappears and sends Toros and his henchmen on a wild, reckless trip through the city to find him. Finally it’s Ivan’s parents (Aleksei Serebryakov and Darya Ekamasova), who arrive to end the marriage with extreme prejudice.
In defiance of these forces, Ani insists on defending her marriage, stating—loudly and as violently as possible—that she and Ivan have found true love. Ani remains defiant and strong and determined to fight for her dream and her dignity, and she won’t let anyone take it from her. At best, Ani comes off as self-assured. At worse, she is crass and belligerent. But no matter what, Anora portrays Ani as unstoppable.
At least until the final 10 minutes.
Stopped in the Driver’s Seat
Anora’s last 10 minutes begin with a shot of Ani waking up one last time in Vanya’s luxury home. In contrast to the loud, madcap pace of the movie so far, Ani awakens in silence. The only noise comes from the snow falling outside. Ani and Igor (Yuriy Borisov), the stoic and sweet enforcer Toros sent to watch her, wordlessly finish their final tasks, packing up her belongings and retrieving the money owed to her.
The silence finally breaks when Igor drives Ani to her house and stops her before she leaves the car. Igor holds out to her the wedding ring Vanya gave Ani. It’s also the ring Vanya took away. Igor only says, “Don’t tell Toros.”
The gesture leaves Ani speechless, a remarkable feat given her way with words. Baker shoots the scenes in close-ups, framing the two actors’ faces inside the car door’s windows. The snow softens their features. With Madison’s face filling the screen, we can fully appreciate the expression she gives Ani, and it’s one we haven’t seen in her before: vulnerability.
She kept that posture with all her interactions with Igor, despite the man’s attempts to gently befriend her. In fact, right before she wakes up for the final scene, Ani leaves Igor by insulting him, rebuffing his offers of kindness with curses and slurs.
But here at the end while she sits in the car and waits for Igor to finish carrying her luggage up to her door, Ani doesn’t know what to do. Ani looks at the camera with a flash of fear and then turns away, her face in profile mostly hidden by her hair, only letting us see her down-turned eyes and mouth slightly agape.
Ani resists the vulnerability, asserting control first by insulting Igor’s car (“It was my grandfathers,” he says with unfazed pride) and then by climbing on top of him and initiating sex. Ani understands the power of her sexual appeal, but she’s out of her element here, literally. Baker makes the car feel cramped and awkward, and the actors’ body language suggests that Igor may not be completely aroused. Unlike the pounding soundtracks that accompanied other encounters, here we hear only the engine running and the car wipers squeaking across the windshield.
When Igor tries to pull her in for a kiss, Ani resits, even slapping and punching him. But then she collapses into his arms and he holds her as she sobs. The movie cuts to black, leaving just the sound of the running engine as credits start to roll.
No Prince, No Castle
The vulnerability that Ani shows at the end of Anora completely redefines the movie, revealing a depth that was always present under the chaos. Ani isn’t just a tough chick who will get what she wants no matter how she has to do it. She’s someone who’s genuinely scared and alone.
Vanya was a Prince Charming of a type, someone who came out of nowhere and offered her love and a home (the latter no small issue as underscored by the fact that the movie ends outside the lower-class house where she lives). And while he was an obviously flaky Prince, his love shallow, and his home ill-gotten, it was the only option available to Ani.
With that all stripped away as quickly as it arrived, Ani breaks. The flashy loudness that drove the movie is revealed as an extension of her very deep, and very human longings, longings likely to go unfulfilled.
Those last 10 minutes change Anora from a loud fantasia and comic downfall into something truly tragic and heartbreaking and real. Those last 10 minutes make Anora one of the best movies of the year.
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