What Anora Says About Love and Generational Trauma

What if Cinderella met her prince but he was terrible? I get truly excited when a great movie comes out by a director you've never really heard of before, someone whose film titles you’ve come across occasionally and put on a list of movies you promise to watch one day, only for them to be forgotten in your archives.

This is especially thrilling because it introduces you to a creator whose works are thematically connected to the film you enjoyed, and now you have the opportunity to watch an entirely new movie by them, knowing you’ll likely connect with that one too. I would say that Anora encapsulates all of Sean Baker's creative and artistic endeavours into one cohesive film. Baker is known for experimenting with different stylistic formats, using them to achieve unique image-making that suits the story.

His style is evident in his cinematography and editing choices, which allow his films to feel authentically personal. However, his works are primarily character- and narrative-driven. His films often feature magnetic personalities, like those in Tangerine and The Florida Project, but nothing compares to the depth and realism portrayed in Anora. As a modern neo-realist, Baker has a knack for hyper-dramatizing heightened versions of his actors' lives within their communities, which contributes to the success of independent filmmaking.

Anora follows Ani, a sex worker in Brooklyn who seemingly lives a lavish life at night. However, once the clock strikes 4 a.m., she returns to her ordinary life as a twenty-something woman living with her roommate in a cramped apartment, struggling to pay the bills and sustain her lifestyle.

Ani gets her big break when she meets a Russian customer named Vanya, who doesn’t speak English fluently. Luckily, Ani knows a bit of Russian, which allows them to communicate. Their encounter is brief but feels significant, as Vanya bonds with Ani in a way that seems meaningful. Despite the sexual and physical context looming in the background, Vanya expresses a desire to see her again. Vanya is in America to study but spends most of his time partying and gaming at his family's mansion in Brooklyn.

Eventually, they end up in Las Vegas, where Vanya proposes to Ani. Despite her doubts, they elope. Later, Vanya casually mentions that he hopes to use their marriage for a green card, so he doesn't have to work for his absent father. Ani quits her job and commits to being his wife, but Vanya remains immature and selfish. When Vanya’s mother, Galina, hears about the marriage, she orders her son’s associate, Toros, to find them and annul the marriage before the family arrives in America. When several of his goons show up to confirm the marriage, Vanya cowardly runs away, leaving Ani to deal with the dire situation and a search party is launched to annul the marriage. The second half of the film centers on Ani's disbelief at Vanya’s betrayal, the exhausting search for him, and Ani coming to terms with the tragedy, wealth disparity and stigma surrounding her line of work.

As a sex worker, Ani’s life seems fairly stable and manageable at first. However, as we delve into her interpersonal relationships, we realize that Ani is devoid of true human connection. She doesn't have any genuine, loving relationships. Her roommate seems apathetic, and the only other person we see her interact with is her co-worker Lulu, with whom she doesn't appear to have any connection outside of work.

At work, Ani's interactions with clients are purely transactional. This dynamic shifts after she meets Vanya, who initially appears innocent and wealthy. This connection gives Vanya a “prince charming” aura, leading Ani to believe that if she plays her cards right, she can escape her monotonous, disconnected life and experience true romance and connection. We also see that Ani has a tough exterior, she’s always in "fight mode," used to situations going wrong. Though we don’t learn much about Ani's background, her broken Russian and hesitance to speak suggests that her parents were of Russian descent, and there may have been a fallout at some point, possibly due to the nature of her work. This underscores the lack of human connection and trust in her life. So, when the first half of the film shows a chaotic yet glamorous display of wealth, parties, and excitement, we’re initially happy that Ani can live a fun, carefree life.

But then her world is turned upside down when it's revealed that Vanya’s parents and colleagues disapprove of his relationship with Ani. Vanya's family, though wealthy and enabled by his chaotic lifestyle, is not without dysfunction, much like Ani's. Both Vanya and Ani are in their twenties, come from broken family systems, and use coping mechanisms like sex, alcohol, and transactional affection to numb their reality.

I recently came across an interesting YouTube video called “A Deep Dive into 1950s Dating Culture,” which explored how casual relationships, multiple partners with no end goal, and avoidant/anxious attachment were present even in the 1950s—an era when people thought love was more straightforward. The creator reads letters exchanged between young men and women, revealing signs of disinterest, disloyalty, instability, and many of the same complaints that people today have about modern dating culture.

This serves to emphasize that traumatic relationship dynamics are cyclical and continue unless actively broken. Many of these women would hide their true feelings to avoid getting hurt, passing on insecurities and poor communication to future generations. They taught a whole community that showing vulnerability only leads to pain. Ani’s relationships, especially with her parents, likely began with an unhealthy dynamic, leading to a constant need for validation and connection through sex.

However, this film would feel hopeless and tragic if we didn’t have at least one other character that I somewhat warmed up to by the end of the film, and that character is Igor, one of Vanya’s goons. Igor is probably the only person who truly empathizes with Ani’s situation, despite being part of her initial hostage involvement which in no way is excusable or should even be forgiven. Regardless, with a film filled with so many morally unacceptable characters, he gave me a sense of perspective.

As an employee of Vanya’s father, he doesn’t have the resources to help her in the ways she needs. Instead, Igor shows kindness and compassion, emotions Ani is completely devoid of, which causes her to lash out at him. In the end, when we see that Igor has saved the ring for Ani, she recognizes the selflessness he feels for her. However, the only way she can express her gratitude is through a transactional, physical act and giving up agency over her body. When Igor ultimately rejects Ani’s advances, we see her boundaries finally break down. She’s broken, but this allows her to begin accepting the loss and tragedy of the situation and, with hope, embrace a new form of interpersonal connection and love in her future relationships to break the cycle.

Be sure to support this movie in theatres and films like this to encourage the development of innovation and creativity in movies!