Anora is one of my favorite movies of the year. You can find my full review here. Aside from having a fantastic screenplay, screenwriter and director Sean Baker crafted a film that is beautifully heartbreaking on many levels. It’s funny when it needs to be. It’s tense and dramatic at the appropriate times. But it ultimately breaks your heart. Anora runs the gamut of emotions more effectively than any film this year, to the point where the ending feels like a gut punch.

The first time I saw it was in a crowded theater and the ending sucked the air out of that theater. The other members of the audience and I sat in stunned silence as the credits silently began to roll. It was one of those communal moments you can only experience in a movie theater and even more rarely when the movie elicits that kind of emotional response.

The foundation of any great film is a great screenplay, and Anora has a great screenplay. It reminds me a little bit of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. It doesn’t go quite as dark, but the overall structure is the same. The first half of the movie is a giant party with lots of sex, drugs, and loud music. Everyone is having a great time until about halfway through the movie when there is a whiplash-inducing turn that takes the movie in a darker direction with a much more pessimistic tone. What makes it work is that Baker’s screenplay makes the transition feel natural. It isn’t as sudden or as jarring as the transition in Boogie Nights, but it changes the direction of the story and its emotional tone just as effectively.

Something that should also be pointed out is the effectiveness with which Baker developed his main character. Ani (Mikey Madison) is an exotic dancer and part-time call girl. She knows how to play her clients (men) so that she can get as much money out of them as possible. On the surface, she’s not a very sympathetic character. But great character development never happens on the surface. Underneath that hard exterior, Baker gave us a tough but fragile girl with no prospects for a good future who has suddenly been handed a winning lottery ticket, and she won’t let it go until it’s pried from her cold, dead fingers. That is something that many people can relate to and root for.

Once again, we have a story with a top-notch Hero’s Journey and a tight story structure. As you can see, the story changes direction and tone with each changing act.

Act I

Ordinary World: Ani works at the strip club. Her boss asks her to meet Ivan, a high-rolling son of a Russian oligarch (but we don’t know that about him yet). She lives with her sister in Brooklyn in a modest house near the train tracks. Things go well with Ivan, and they continue to see each other, but on a purely “professional” level.

Call to Adventure: Ivan asks her to be exclusive for a week, and she negotiates a deal for $15K for the week, which he agrees to. She tells him she would have done it for as little as 10, and he says he would have paid her 30.

Meeting the Mentor: She meets Ivan’s friends and joins his world.

Crossing the First Threshold: Ivan decides they should all go to Vegas. Partying hard there, Ivan laments that he has to go back to Russia soon. But he could stay if he gets married, so he asks Ani to marry him. This is where the Refusal comes in. Ani says no, thinking it’s a ridiculous idea. But he talks her into it, and she demands a 3-karat ring. They officially cross the first threshold when they get married in Vegas.

Act II

Tests, Allies, and Enemies: Back in New York, Ani quits her job. Her coworker and nemesis, Diamond, predicts it will be over in two weeks. Ani and Ivan find a ring, clothes, and food. She lives the high life, and they seem genuinely happy. Ani wants to know what his parents think, but he’s evasive. The Toros, his godfather and mentor, gets a call from Ivan’s mother, Galina Stepanova, saying she read in a tabloid that Ivan married a prostitute.

Toros sends his brother Garnick and the Russian muscle Igor (Yura Borisov) to Ivan’s house to find out if the marriage is real. Ivan shows him the marriage license, and Igor tries to be nice to Ani, but she isn’t having it. Garnick takes a picture and sends it to the Toros, who’s in the middle of a baptism. He sees the pick on his phone and awkwardly and hilariously leaves. Toros comes over after getting yelled at by Ivan’s mother and he promises to fix everything.

Approach: Toros arrives and demands they go to City Hall to annul the marriage. Ani tells him to go fuck himself. Ivan runs away as Igor tries to control Ani, who smacks him around. A fight ensues, and she smashes the place up and breaks Garnick’s nose. Igor ties her up. They take the ring off her finger and she screams rape so the gag her

Supreme Ordeal: Toros offers her $10k to annul the marriage. She won’t agree to anything without talking to Ivan, so they agree to find him.

Reward: They hunt for Ivan at his usual hangouts. It’s cold, and Igor offers her the scarf he gagged her with earlier. She refuses it at first but then takes it. They get back to the car they parked illegally, and it’s on a tow truck. They pull it off and take it off to keep looking. Garnick throws up from his concussion.

Act III

The Road Back – They find him in Ani’s club, having a private dance with Diamond. Ivan is drunk and ignoring Ani. Ani fights Diamond before they get Ivan in the car. They go to the courthouse in the morning, but it can’t get annulled in New York since the marriage was in Vegas.

Resurrection: They get to the airport and meet Ivan’s parents. Galina Stepanova is awful to Ani and threatens to ruin her life if she doesn’t agree to the annulment. They fly to Vegas, and the marriage gets annulled. On the plane, Anora stands up to Ivan and calls him pathetic before Igor gives her a drink.

Return with the Elixir: The wedding is annulled. Ani looks at Ivan before signing it, but he can’t look at her and puts on his sunglasses. Igor wants Ivan to apologize to her. Galina Stepanova says no apology is needed. Ani tells her that her son is a pussy, and he hates her so much he married a whore, causing even Ivan’s father, Nijkolai Zakharov to break into laughter. Igor takes her back to America, and they spend he night in Ivan’s house watching TV and smoking weed. He says his birthday was yesterday. He says he likes Anora more than Ani. And it’s good she’s not part of that family. They have a moment. The next day, Toros gives her the $10k. Igor takes her home and gives her the ring. They have sex before she slaps him and starts crying in his arms.

She’s lost and broken and has pushed away the one person in this whole adventure who was kind to her.

Anora is a grim journey brimming with emotion. It starts out wildly entertaining before turning on its heartbreaking destiny, but you will feel something watching this film. I don’t think it’s the best picture of the year, but it is the most emotional.