The hype surrounding Anora is colossal, and it delivered. I had no idea what to expect going into it, aside from combining all three of Sean Baker's other movies in my head and thinking maybe it will be somewhere in the middle of all of them (The Florida Project, Red Rocket, and Tangerine - all great movies by the way, and all about sex workers). It had some similar tones and focuses, but otherwise Anora was a new beast of its own. I will say that towards the meat of the film, it got WAY more Safdie Brothers than I was expecting! A lot of people yelling over each other for a very long time! Very tense! The movie sort of moves in three acts, as many great films do. I was getting the feeling towards the beginning it was going to feel a bit like Boogie Nights in structure, and I would say that that was pretty spot on. You have your party, your conflict, and your conclusion. Without saying too much about it, I will say that the ending made the entire movie for me, and my girlfriend agreed. You have a 2-hour experience that is mostly funny and mostly riveting, that all feels a little pulpy while still offering a lot of very on-point details on the sex work experience, but it all feels for-fun until you get to the ending. Rather than an ending that wraps things up nicely in a pretty little bow, it's an ending that unties the bow, and opens the box, and leaves you with the RAW reality of it all. I was a bit in awe taking in the very specific energy of the packed room as the silent credits hit and people very slowly began making their way (very quietly) out of the auditorium. Mikey Madison is fantastic as Anora. Seeing the ads for the film, I expected a bubbly, sweet girl - but she plays a hard, sassy, hustler who is VERY New York City, and it was a pleasant surprise. Anora is a mostly likable character, but not always, and that only adds to her humanity and the overall realism and complexity of her functionality as a main character. You will experience a rollercoaster of ups and downs with her, and the depth feels very real. She is also extremely HOT and there's ALOT of SEX in this movie. The whole cast is fantastic, but new faces Mark Eidelshtein and Yura Borisov make the strongest imprints as capable actors who deserve much more casting in the future. Eidelshtein stole the show as the most believable rich boy on a rampage ever, and Borisov's nuanced presence was loud AF without the need for many words. I definitely think this is one of Baker's two finest films thus far, perhaps his best, and one of the best films of 2024. It's really great to see how well this movie is doing. The house was totally packed on a Monday night at 9:30 PM, and I hear it's opening weekend numbers were some of the highest this year. This is the kind of original, sincere, relevant filmmaking that needs to be seen, celebrated, and supported, and it's a joy to see it happening. I'm excited to see Mikey Madison's career bloom after this, and can't wait for more from Sean Baker.

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