Anora
Sean Baker’s screwball comedy about sex, love, and money stars Mikey Madison as an exotic dancer from Brighton Beach thrust into the lap of luxury when she’s whisked away on a whirlwind romance with a wealthy young customer. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
This year’s rambunctious Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival is a pure shot of frenetic pleasure, a New York odyssey that is the most immersive and accomplished comic adventure yet from American original Sean Baker (The Florida Project, NYFF55; Red Rocket, NYFF59). In a thrilling, star-making performance, Mikey Madison plays Ani, a tough-as-nails exotic dancer from Brighton Beach suddenly thrust into the lap of luxury when she’s whisked away on a whirlwind romance with Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), an obscenely wealthy young customer at her strip club. However, Ivan turns out to be the spoiled scion of Russian oligarchs, and Ani’s wild ride is anything but your average rags-to-riches story. Baker always takes a good-natured, sociological approach to his subject matter and milieu, and here he has created an authentic 21st-century screwball comedy that tackles sex, love, class, and money with matter-of-fact directness. An NYFF62 Main Slate selection. A NEON release.
Critic's Pick! Sometimes a movie actually earns the old cliché of a 'star-making turn,' and I’m here to say that Sean Baker’s film is this year’s star maker.
—Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
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