Anora is a whirlwind of romance, road trips and regrettable decisions that hurtles along at breakneck speed.

The film recently dominated the Oscars, claiming best picture, director, editing and original screenplay for writer/director Sean Baker and best actress for the excellent Mikey Madison as the titular Anora.

It was among the best returns for a single movie in history, made even more impressive by the fact that it emerged from independent cinema rather than a major studio. That is one of the reasons it has been difficult to see in theatres in South Africa, but it did recently become available on streaming platforms.

The movie follows Anora, a shrewd New York stripper who spots a chance to improve her circumstance when she meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the free-spending son of a Russian oligarch living in America.

Anora quickly realises that she can play the role of an uncomplicated object of desire for Vanya who is initially on the lookout for little more than someone to sleep and party with. When Vanya offers her $15 000 to be his exclusive girlfriend for a week, she thinks she has found a pathway to the big time.

This is a Sean Baker movie however, not Pretty Woman, so do not expect a straight line from stripper to soulmates. When things eventually go awry later on, Vanya’s American handler Toros (Baker regular, Karren Karragulian) and his goons Igor (Yuri Borisov) and Garnik (Vache Tovmasyan) are forced to get involved.

You might imagine this ends up with Anora in a shallow ditch, but Baker is such a humanist filmmaker that you will find yourself rooting for almost every character on screen.

There are wild tonal shifts, from moments of genuine sadness to almost Marx Brothers levels of physical humour that provide some of the funniest screen moments in recent memory.

While this could feel disconnected in the hands of someone else, Baker manages to bring this movie together and deliver the best ending of the year.

Anora is a wonderful film, with plenty of heart and humour, that also does not shy away from the harsh realities of sex work. That includes extended scenes in the strip club, so be warned that there is a lot of nudity and sex in this movie, particularly in the first twenty minutes.

It is well worth pushing through to see the full movie.

Rated 18 for scenes of Nudity, Sex, Language and Violence.

4.5/5.

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