Anora

It’s about goddamn time Anora released wide. It is safe to say that this easily lived up to its expectations as Palme D’or winner and Best Picture contender. This is Sean Baker’s masterpiece and The Florida Project and Red Rocket for him are both brilliant films in my eyes. Anora is probably the funniest movie that has released this year which came as a legitimate shock to me. I was not expecting to get a thriller type of comedy from this film, but I was belly laughing for the majority of its runtime. The script from Baker was hilarious and extremely well-written. It had me laughing from start to finish and it was every character that was able to garner a laugh from the audience. Vanya/Ivan was a perfectly written and acted character with his blend of humor and immaturity that one would expect from the son of a Russian oligarch and the incompetence of the Armenian/Russian henchmen just further built on that. Mikey Madison with a breakout performance of a lifetime that was not understated in the slightest from festival-goers. She has all but surely locked up her first Oscar. Like the rest of the cast, she brought the comedy but also gave us a grounded character through the lens of a sex worker that is a major theme in all of Baker’s films. I also want to shout out Igor for dominating his screentime in possibly one of my favorite supporting actor roles of the year. Anora is my #2 movie of the year and will likely land in my Top 100 of all time. It will contend in numerous categories at the Academy Awards, surely locking up a few wins. It was a relief to me that this movie met its lofty expectations as one of the best of the year.