I saw this at Curzon on the 29th of October, 2024.
The story is of a stripper who meets the son of a Russian oligarch at the club where she works. He pays her a few times, and then asks her to spend a week with him, paying her $15k for it, and at the end they think they had such a good time with each other (plus he wants a green card to stay in the US) that they get married in Vegas! And then the boy’s parents find out, and so starts an alternately hilarious and brutal farce, where two servants show up at the house, the boy runs away, they tie up the girl and make her go with them to find him so they can get the marriage annulled. The entire time, she thinks she can convince him to stand up to them, but when they finally get to him, he just obeys his parents, she becomes disgusted with him, and they get the annulment.
I loved it so much, I grinned like a maniac the entire time! The first act was just incredible, like a proper old fashioned love story except for the excesses (it’s an 18 for a reason lol). Anora was played utterly brilliantly, the actress did a phenomenal job at getting her prickliness and confidence and sensitivity.
The second act was different thematically but also stellar, with proper whiplash between the black humour and terror at the power of everyone around Anora, from the servants with their physical strength, to the husband’s parents with their money and influence.
The final scene was emotionally destroying and simultaneously impenetrable? One of the servants, who has been shown throughout to like Anora in some ways, while holding her hostage, saves her marriage ring for her. She’s been shown to be disgusted with him the whole time, but at this, something flips, and she slowly, almost tenderly, crosses to straddle him in the drivers seat. The servant starts pulling her closer to kiss her, and she resists gently at first, but then he pulls harder and harder, and she resists harder, and then she snaps and pulls away and starts screaming at him and punching him; and finally she stops, and breaks down, and he pulls her into a hug.
The slow flip of the audience’s emotions, from the tenderness of the scene, to the observation that she seems to be resisting, to the fight, is just…beautifully pulled off.
It was unbelievably poignant, but I couldn’t tell myself why. Maybe because sex was the only way she knew to show gratitude in that moment, but she’d only ever been shown to kiss the husband? Maybe because she wanted to show appreciation for his kindness and then he showed his true colours through force? Maybe because she wanted to be vulnerable and was immediately taken advantage of by someone who otherwise showed kindness to her, while hurting her because of his orders? Maybe because the guy, after seeing everything she’s been through, still accepted her advances? I don’t know.
Just…..I loved it.
Later edit: I heard a bit about the film being controversial because it was ‘male gaze-y’ in the way it portrayed and framed Anora, and I think this Jordan Theresa video offers a good rebuttal. To paraphrase, the term ‘male gaze’ initially referred to the presentation of women in visual media as passive objects to be consumed by the active male participants. Recently, this has crossed over into everyday life, in a way that makes sense: the commodification of beauty does mean that an everyday appearance can be something to be consumed, and it does mean something to be dressing yourself as an object rather than according to your likes and dislikes.
There is a side note here about videos presenting ‘dressing for the male gaze vs female gaze’ being essentially 2021 fashion vs 2025 fashion. Also, it’s problematic that any clothing which hints at or supports sexuality is devalued as male gaze-y rather than an expression of the freedom that has been so hard-won.
However, Anora is not male-gaze-y! Anora is a fully fledged, active participant in the story! The sexuality in the film is presented as part of her life, and in fact forms a minor part, with the rest being actually about her, her actions and decisions, and her personality! She is not framed or portrayed in a way that suggests she is exclusively to be consumed!
Later later edit: this (Rayne Fisher-Quann) is one of the better reviews and analyses I’ve seen. Also! Five Oscars!