ANORA

Watching Sean Baker's Anora (2024) with zero expectations, I was pleasantly surprised to find a 21st-century screwball comedy with a dark, bittersweet charm—something that might have starred Claudette Colbert or Barbara Stanwyck in an earlier era of Hollywood. Though not perfect by any means, I greatly admired the movie's tonal variety as it attempted to blend realism, slapstick comedy, and social commentary, serving as a modern subversion of a Cinderella romance.

It brought to mind Howard Hawks's Bringing Up Baby (1938), with a definite nod to Billy Wilder's Cold War satire One, Two, Three (1961), as well as the comedies of Italian director Pietro Germi, such as Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana, 1961) and Seduced and Abandoned (Sedotta e abbandonata, 1964). The film carried an irreverence toward our PC times, which felt refreshing, and had an ending worthy of a Bob Rafelson movie.

Special mention must go to actors Mikey Madison as Anora and Yuriy Borisov as Igor, who complemented each other beautifully, with Madison’s ultra-verbal performance contrasting Borisov’s near-mute one.

Drew Daniels’ cinematography also captured subtle magic, finding beauty in candle-wick sunsets against the wintry backdrop of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.