Anora (2024) presents an episode in the life of a sex worker. Much lauded by critics, it is a failure both esthetically and philosophically.
The film is naturalistic, which one could predict, but what is surprising is how unrealistic the plot is. For example, this film presents much potential for violence but realizes very little of it, what little there is being initiated by the titular sex worker herself. For another example, there seems to be a discrepancy between her vast earnings and her meager lifestyle. Beyond many such problems, the film has no scares and no romance, while for humor it looks to satirize gangsters and “oligarchs,” but is unlikely to elicit any laughs, awkward or otherwise. Worse still, there is just no exploration or development of character. The only characters with any credible motivation are the minor characters, who simply want money and quiet! Thus the ending is neither believable nor interesting, arriving like an abrupt termination to a meandering dream.
Mikey Madison provides a good lead performance with what little she is given for a script. She can be convincingly charming and convincingly combative, switching with ease and, to the untrained ear at least, she sounds convincing as she switches between Brooklyn English and semi-fluent heritage Russian. One of the few notably realistic elements of the film is the casting of an attractive, young woman as a high-price sex worker, with that and her many topless scenes marking an end perhaps to the era of #MeToo, “body positivity” and related trends.
/sb
