It’s unusual for a film to debut on home release as part of the Criterion Collection – the only other examples I can think of are co-productions with platforms like Netflix (The Irishman or The Power Of The Dog). But somehow, it feels strangely fitting for Anora, a film that swept the Oscars despite being far from traditional awards fare.

Sean Baker brings his characteristic blend of realism, low-key humour and human poignancy to this much more realistic take on Pretty Woman. It’s a bleak whirlwind of a fairy-tale romance, shot frenetically and with several performances that feel like contenders for Best Of The Year – not least of all the Oscar-winning Mikey Madison.

The story can effectively be split into three parts. It begins with Ani (Madison), working as an exotic dancer in a seedy Brooklyn club. Her life is a cycle of hustle—picking up clients, performing, surviving. Then she meets Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), a young, naive, and (crucially) filthy rich Russian who takes a shine to her, bonding over the fact they both speak Russian. He offers to hire her exclusively for a week, and after enjoying a hedonistic week of decadence and sex, Ivan impulsively proposes to Ani as a way to allow him to stay in the country. This opens a whole new can of worms though, as the news of his engagement soon reaches his powerful parents, who dispatch handlers to manage the situation, and the film pivots into unexpected territory.

I’ll admit I was wary at first. The film’s opening stretch feels loose, even aimless, leaning hard into explicit scenes that start to feel repetitive, or even gratuitous. But then, almost without warning, it shifts gears with a brilliant long take of a home invasion—the moment when Ivan’s Russian minders arrive. From there, Anora really hits its stride, and transforms into something new – it’s tense and unpredictable, and the interactions all spark with vitality and humour. It starts to feel like Uncut Gems in its chaotic pacing and frenetic, propulsive energy.

What I loved about the film’s wry humour is the way that punchlines aren’t delivered centre stage but are instead thrown away off-screen, or barely audible on the edge of the frame. There will be fairly dramatic stuff happening on-screen, and then you’ll just hear a perfect little rejoinder coming from the periphery of the scene. It’s all so chaotic, and the offhand delivery punctuate scenes with a realism and wit that feels organic, helping bring the world of the film to life.

The tonal shifts are bold but earned – from sex comedy to screwball farce to emotional gut-punch. And just when you think you know where it’s headed, Baker pulls the rug out again. One late, quietly devastating beat in particular completely reverses the dynamic between Ani and Ivan in a way that’s both crushing and brilliant.

It should go without saying, but Mikey Madison is phenomenal. Her physicality makes Ani’s profession convincing, but it’s in the film’s latter half that she truly shines. Madison’s plays Ani as if she knows that her grip on this new life of wealth is tenuous, but she will fight to keep hold of it no matter what. You get the distinct impression that she knows deep down that this is all too good to be true, but that doesn’t make it sting any less when it’s laid out for her in black and white, culminating in that final, devastating moment of honesty, the only time in the film Ani allows herself to be truly vulnerable. Madison is utterly magnetic, making Ani at once brassy and sensitive, and playing almost imperceptible changes in attitude beautifully and with an incredible authenticity.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Yura Borisov, whose restrained performance as Igor brings subtlety and quiet strength. While Madison is incredibly outgoing – shouting, screaming, and throwing herself into the role with a real ferocity, Borisov plays his somewhat ambiguous role very subtly – he downplays his character to perfection, emerging at the end with one of the few characters with any kind of moral backbone.

My personal favourite performance comes from Karren Karagulian, Baker’s longtime collaborator, in what might be his best role yet. Here he plays Ivan’s godfather and reluctant fixer, and the person effectively driving the film’s second half, desperately trying to find Ivan and put the genie back in the bottle. He perfectly embodies the kind of ineffectual middle management that has no real power but a wealth of responsibilities, and his frustration is expressed so keenly that you can’t help but warm to him. His muttered “noooo” upon hearing of the marriage is the first real laugh of the film, and from there, he steals scene after scene with his perfectly calibrated frustration.

I loved the little moments that aren’t really talked about – the almost indiscernible way Ani tenses up when she hears the fateful knock on the door at the end of their week-long party, or the many subtle clues that Ivan isn’t all he’s cracked up to be. I haven’t yet seen The Florida Project or Tangerine, so I can only compare Anora to the similarly fatalistic Red Rocket – but this feels far more hopeful by comparison. Yes, the ending stings, but the film is so alive, its characters so sharply drawn, that despite the heartbreak of that final moment, there remains a flicker of possibility.

The only slightly false note for me was the characterisation and performance of Ivan’s mother Galina (Daria Ekamasova). Her villainy feels a touch too theatrical, especially compared to the more believable disinterest and disdain of Ivan’s father. Her glee in tearing Ani down feels out of step with the film’s otherwise grounded tone.

In the end, Anora was a film I wanted to like, then didn’t, then absolutely did. It wrong-foots you at every turn, and by the time it lands its final blow, you’re all in. It’s messy, startlingly vital, and full of heart – the kind of film that surprises you by how much you end up caring. It’s a fitting addition to the Criterion Collection – a film that will no doubt retain its power years from now.

Special Features

Extras on this new 4K digital master include a new audio commentary with Baker producer Samantha Quan, and cinematographer Drew Daniels, and another with Baker and actors Yura Borisov, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Mikey Madison, and Vache Tovmasyan; also a making-of documentary; new interviews with Baker and Madison, Cannes Film Festival press conference; Q&A with Madison and actor-stripper Lindsey Normington, and deleted scenes.

Anora is out now from Criterion Collection: https://amzn.dp/B0DVLQHCGX