Anora

Sean Baker's Palme d'Or winner ANORA is an audacious, thrilling, and comedic variation on a modern day Cinderella story. Mikey Madison captivates as Ani, a young sex worker from Brooklyn whose life takes an unexpected turn when she meets and impulsively marries Vanya, the impetuous son of a Russian billionaire. However, when Vanya's parents catch wind of the union, they send their henchmen to annul the marriage, setting off a wild chase through the streets of New York.

Stylistically thrilling, hugely entertaining and emotionally genuine, ANORA is a singular variation on a Cinderella story that could only come from Sean Baker. Set in 2018, it follows the wild odyssey of its titular protagonist, a young Russian American sex worker who is swept out of her everyday life as an erotic dancer by the impetuous, free-spending son of a Russian oligarch. The narrative zigs and zags, first immersing us in spaces – a plush Manhattan gentlemen's club, a gargantuan seaside Brooklyn compound, the bling-y wonderland of Las Vegas – that feel unattached to the quotidian world outside. Just as the film seems to be settling into the rhythms of a love story, it jumps genre lanes to become a propulsive, darkly funny chase movie that careens through the streets of Brighton Beach, Coney Island and Manhattan. Towards the end of the film, the tone changes once more, bringing the story to a nuanced and poignant conclusion as ANORA is returned to the home she thought she’d left behind