ANORA

This year’s Palme d’Or winner Anora contains small moments of well-observed humanity but makes the cardinal mistake of stretching the narrative out to a tedious, loud, unwieldy 140 minutes.

When a sex worker catches the eye of a Russian oligarch’s young son, she embarks on a whirlwind romance that promises her a life of wealth and security. But her Cinderella story unexpectedly hits a major obstacle when the Russian parents find out about their relationship and go to great lengths to break them up.

That sounds like a classic premise for a manic, edgy, quickfire romcom but alas writer-director Sean Baker gets surprisingly little mileage out of the idea, as he drags out the narrative to such an extent – nearly every scene could do with a major edit – that you stop caring about the characters.

This is a particular shame in the case of lead actress Mikey Madison, who brings the right amount of charm, heart and honesty to a role that, admittedly, on paper is underwritten. Then again, the other actors remain stuck in one-dimensional portrayals of often hard to like characters, who shout more to each other than they talk.

While Sean Baker definitely flexes his muscles to find a more ambitious visual style than his previous features, the trade-off is a movie that lacks the genuine heart of his best work, with the exception of the sweet, budding friendship between the lead character and Russian bodyguard Igor, though this one highlight also peters out in a final act that lacks a true catharsis.

Perhaps if Anora lost some 40-odd minutes, the picture could find the right mix between narrative momentum, charms and heart. In its current, bloated form the glimpses of magic that are an essential ingredient of a tale like this, shine rather dimly.

release: 2024

director: Sean Baker

starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Yura Borisov