Anora

Sean Baker’s Palme d'Or winning screwball comedy about a sex worker spending a week with a young and reckless Russian oligarch’s son is hilarious and heartbreaking. Baker saw two ways Anora’s story could go and explored both of them. Anora herself, played fantastically by Mikey Madison, is vibrant, brash and not afraid to say it how it is — and how it is is a wealthy man’s world exploiting the hopes and dreams of a young woman to have something more. It ends on a downer, which comes as a shock after the slapstick onslaught of comedic brilliance. It makes Anora into, if not a controversial film, then a film which divides its audience and raises lots of questions, many of which don’t have easy answers. It’s at its most enjoyable when watched in a packed cinema, everyone sharing the experience of Anora’s journey together.

Daniel Kallin