'Anora' Review

Sean Baker's newest flick Anora has released to stellar reviews. My ratings are as follows:

Plot 10/10

Acting 10/10

Directing 10/10

Writing 10/10

Cinematography 9/10

Soundtrack 8/10

Effects 9/10

Lighting 10/10

Color 10/10

Emotional Impact 10/10

Overall: 96/100

Anora follows an exotic dancer Ani, Mikey Madison, who gets paid to stay and play house with Ivan, Mark Eydelshteyn, the rich son of a Russian businessman. Eventually he proposes to her and they get married in Las Vegas. Chaos ensues as the man tasked with watching over Ivan hears word of the marriage, gets in trouble with his boss and tries to get it annulled. Ivan runs away and Anora is stuck with the people hired to get this marriage over with. The story follows this groups pursuit in finding Ivan, as well as following Anora and her dealing with the grief of all that is happening. The acting is absolutely incredible. If we lived in a perfect world Mikey Madison and Yura Borisov would win Oscars for their Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor performances. Both of these performances are two of the best I have seen in a long time, with Borisov particularly being an incredible standout. While I don't see this being a Best Picture film, just due to the state of the Oscars, it is more than worthy for a nomination. Sean Baker also deserves a nomination for his writing and directing and I could see a win for Screenplay in there for him. The color and lighting of this film are spectacular, adding to the emotional effect of this film as a whole. It's really executed to a near perfect level. If you're going to see any film out of 2024, I would highly recommend to catch this while it's in theaters. It's an experience that I won't forget for quite some time. Beautiful story, characters, and execution. Just a beautiful film.