Anora (2024)

Anora, portrayed by Mikey Madison, ultimately sees herself as an object to be bartered with; she's meant to find someone interested and strike a deal, preferably in her favor. The film is ultimately about a woman hunting down a man, both for her own safety and to get what she is owed; unfortunately she finds herself to be the bearer of junk bonds.

Anora’s latest target, Vanya, is juvenile, irresponsible, and emotionally unresponsive. But besides all of that, he is apparently rich. This initially draws Anora in before she realizes the truth behind his family's wealth. Once the situation is made clearer, Anora realizes that Vanya was never her way out of the life she is living. He is just another John, albeit a connected one.

The film has strong things to say about sex work, such as the lack of physical and financial security often associated with it. On the subject of physical security, relatively early in the film Anora is taken hostage.

Anora being, well, Anora, she initiates a no-holds-barred battle, throwing and breaking everything in sight, pummelling her attacker, and proving near impossible to contain. Some of the physical acting seen in this chaotic fight is superb. In this moment and all others, Mikey Madison truly embodies her character, in action, attitude, and everything else.

The ending cuts to the core of the film, as Anora reacts strongly to Igor's unwelcome attempt at intimacy over transactional sexual interaction. She had consented to the second, not the first. And that’s not a statement about consent so much as a statement about Anora. In this moment we see with perfect clarity that Anora may feel comfortable with impersonal sex as currency, but someone forcing the issue of intimacy causes her to recoil before collapsing into a sobbing mess.

Audacious, intriguing, and completely out of control, the film manages to aggressively pack in laughs, observationally offer insight into sex work, and position sex as transaction and intimacy in contrast with one another. The resultant show put on by Anora is a strong one and worth the price of admission.