Anora

This was easily my most anticipated movie of the year. I told so many people to go watch it months ago, and today I finally saw it. This was my first time going to the theaters with no one else, and it was a very liberating experience so I recommend it. ANYWAYS, this movie was as funny as it was impactful. Halfway through the movie I was waiting for the powerful punches, something that separated it from a raunchy, beautifully shot comedy. The last 20min, but specifically that last scene. FUCKKKKKKK. I had a conversation with someone who was quite disappointed in Sean Baker because of Ani having sex with her kidnapper at the end of the movies as women falling for their abusers and captors is such a common trope, and from a woman perspective it was very disappointing. I completely hear that point and am in no way of dismissing them, but I just wanted to say that the last scene was incredibly impactful, as I felt he was the only one to show her true care in the later half, he constantly talked to her as a human being, not a sex worker, when she said you could’ve rapped me, and why didn’t you, she honestly demonstrated a struggle from detaching herself from what most men want from her, sex. When it gets to that last scene, him giving her the ring, no one has honestly treated her so kindly. She has a shit sister, no relationship with her parents, her “husband” betrayed her on a dime, and a man who just appreciated her for her showed her that. So she has sex with him, it was her way of making sense of everything. Sex for her is a defense mechanism, but when he tries to kiss her, showing there was true emotion, true vulnerability, she couldn’t, she broke down. She was always a strong person, but she was able to drop her gaurd with him. I agree it was weird that it was her kidnapper, but I think she gained a sympathy for him. It was his grandmas car, he lived in his grandmas house, he cares for small things as the meaning of a name, he cared for her birth name, which clearly held some trauma behind it. But I 1000 percent get it, it’s slightly weird but I think the development kind of warrants it. That’s my rant. Amazing movie. Recommend it. Mikey Madison for best Actress.