Anora

Fine, I'll admit it: I judged this film unfairly, even before I saw it. In fact, when I decided to watch this year's Oscar nominated films, I wanted to get the bad films out of the way, hence why I watched *Conclave first, a film that I'd heard some bad things about, then Anora, a film I was certain I wasn't going to enjoy, and finally, Emilia Pérez, a film that has gained a reputation for being the worst film ever nominated for an Oscar. It's a trap I seem to fall into frequently, but when I finished watching 2024's Conclave last night, I decided to reconsider my uninformed opinions. As for Anora*, though this film started out graphic and slightly uncomfortable, as it went on, it became increasingly funny and enjoyable, and before I knew it, presented a final message so powerful, when I finally understood it thirty minutes later, my opinion on the film had improved vastly. Firstly, something I noticed since the first minutes of the film was the brilliant cinematography and stunning use of color theory. Each shot, may it be in a club, in Vanya's house, or anywhere else, was illuminated in subtle and violent red and blue undertones depending on the scene, giving it depth and a feeling of surrealism. In some ways, it established an interesting and cool color sceme that really made each scene a pleasure to watch. Moreover, the decision to film this on 35mm film instead of digital was definitely the right choice because it elevated each shot, making it feel rich and lavish at all times. Secondly, the performances were absolutely amazing throughout. Mikey Madison obviously stole the show in her breakout role as Ani and gave a performance that completely deserves an Oscar. Though I am rooting Demi Moore, I would be equally happy to see Madison recieve the Academy Award for Best Actress this year. Besides her performance, I was also pleasantly surprised by the performances given by Mark Eydelshteyn as Vanya, Yura Borisov as Igor, and Karren Karagulian as Toros. They all felt so engrossed in their roles at all times and depicted their characters' and their personalities so well, that at times, I found myself hating certain actors because of the wrongdoings of their characters. Thirdly, I simply can't praise the writing of this film enough because Sean Baker has singlehandedly written probably the best screenplay of this year, rivaled only by Jesse Eisenberg's screenplay for *A Real Pain*. He has written fantastic snappy dialogue, fast paced and hilarious scenes, and the best characters I've seen in a film in a long time. I was genuinely so surprised at how much I laughed during this film because on surface level, it doesn't seem like a film like this should make me laugh, but somehow it managed to be one of the funniest films of the year. Additionally, the dialogue always felt so natural but also somehow like each line had been hand-picked and deliberately chosen for a reason, something that made watching such an airtight script come to life on screen a true delight. And then there's the characters; may it be Ani herself, Vanya, Igor or even Torres, each character is so well-crafted and thought out that I felt like I was watching real people interact, not just some people in a movie, which is probably the biggest compliment any writer and/or director can receive. Obviously, I know this is assisted by the stellar performances in this film, but I feel that the strongly written characters really helped the actors portraying them slip into their roles so seamlessly. Finally, there's the message of the film, something that took me a good thirty minutes to fully understand, but when I did, I was blown away in realising the greatness of this film. Since I want to keep this review mostly spoiler-free, I won't reveal everything, however, I will say that I think this was a very necessary message, not just for the world, but also for me. I've always kind of taken for granted how sex workers like Ani are viewed and treated by society, and this film made me reconsider this view. It made me see Ani as a person and realize that she, just like everyone else, wanted someone to love and someone who loved her without judging her with preconceived notions. The only thing that I didn't really like about this film was the abundance of explicit scenes. However, I do understand that it was quite crucial to really hit home the ending message, and without them, it wouldn't've been as impactful. In conclusion, though I did walk into this film with prematurely formed opinions, I've now been proven wrong—so much so, in fact, that I think this is probably one of the best films of 2024, even better than films like Conclave and *The Apprentice*. And so, I think it's very deserving of its high level four and a half star rating. Edit: CONGRATULATIONS TO 2025 BEST PICTURE WINNER, Anora 🧣 Films of 2024 Oscars 2025: Best Picture Nominees Ranked 4.5/5 **31 January 2024 *chymp*