Anora

Synopsis: An NYC sex worker meets up with a Russian oligarch’s son

Anora is the anti-Pretty Woman. No Cinderella story, this!  In 1990, Julia Roberts’ LA sex worker, Vivian, had a week-long job with Richard Gere’s financier. In Anora, Anora, or, Ani, as she prefers to be called, is a sex worker in New York. She takes a week-long job with a Russian oligarch’s son. She segues from a lucrative gig to a plan; a plan to f**k her way out of sex work. Let me explain…

Ani (Mikey Madison) works at a club in Manhattan as a lap dancer. She takes on clients for sex too. She shares a place in Brooklyn with a woman she doesn’t like. Are you laughing yet? Because some of her story is supposed to be funny– maybe.

One night at the club, Ani’s boss asks her to pair off with a Russian-speaking guy, Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), who’s already having a good time with alcohol. Ani gives him a big smile, like with all of her clients, and says she understands Russian because she has/had a Russian grandma. But her spoken Russian isn’t very good. Likewise, Ivan’s English isn’t very good.

So, Ivan looks like a Russian Timothee Chalamet. Skinny, boyish, floppy hair, perpetually grinning. He says, Call me Vanya. Later, he tells Ani that he’s twenty-one to Ani’s twenty-three. He looks and acts about sixteen. We’ll soon learn that Vanya’s interests run to three things: partying, gaming and sexing.

After a lap dance, Vanya invites Ani to his parents’ place in Brooklyn. The manse, all done up in tacky-luxe style, has a great view of the Mill Basin Bridge. She’s impressed.

Sometime after the paid sex, Ani asks Vanya how he has so much money. I’m a drug dealer. Then he bursts out laughing. He gives her his father’s name. Turns out papa is an oligarch/gangster. Vanya is supposed to be studying while in America. Well, he is a serious student of partying . Vanya forlornly tells Ani that his parents insist he return to Russia soon and do some work in the family business. Ani lounges on the red satin sheets (eww) and considers what she’s learned.

Before you know it, Vanya has offered Ani 10K for a week of her time. She says, 15. Agreed. She tells her boss she’ll be gone for a week. When he says no, she tells him that until he starts offering benefits, she’ll do what she wants. I guess she gets away with it because she is popular with club clients. Most service workers don’t do whatever they want, but Ani is something of a manic pixie dream girl, sex worker division of fantasy. Straight men are so knocked out by her beauty and tough-talking that they acquiesce to her wishes.

At Vanya’s place, they get along well enough. He likes having sex with a hot girl and she likes a rich kid. In between sex and dance routines (hers), he plays video games and she relaxes into his bony chest.

Friends–well, friends of the sticking-around-for-drugs variety–come over to party. Spoiled, ridiculous Vanya is getting bored of partying in NYC. He announces that they will take a private jet to Las Vegas and party there. I have to give him credit for being able to get his stoned ass to the airport. Yes, they drink and spray champagne on the plane. I’d expect nothing less from Vanya.

When the group gets to his family’s fave hotel in Vegas, an employee is forced into obsequiousness when Ivan blows up because their regular suite is not quite ready. Then Vanya laughs and says he’s joking. Joking!

Vanya and Ani twirl around outside amongst all of the Googie neon. They get married. Huh?!! Sorry for the mild spoiler, but it happens early-ish in the movie and the publicity materials divulge it.

Do they seem in love? Nope. But Vanya offers a moneyed lifestyle and–I’m guessing this might be a deciding factor– he’s not a violent guy. Well, at least not in the week Ani’s known him. Anyway, they both think they might love each other. So, the Vegas wedding is a good fit. Apologies to couples who have lasting Vegas-origin nuptials like Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. And good luck to Nic Cage who is on his second Vegas marriage, after the first Vegas marriage was annulled when the couple later said they were too drunk  aka “want of understanding” in legal nomenclature. This is exactly what happened to Rachel & Ross in Friends! Anyway…

Back in Brooklyn the newlyweds settle in. More sex and partying and videogaming (for him). Ani asks if he’s told his parents about her. Sure, he says unconvincingly. Meanwhile, Ani quits the club and works on her Russian. She seems sure that her Russian heritage will win over Vanya’s parents.

Things get wacky when Ivan’s parents learn of his marriage. They get ahold of an enforcer of theirs, Toros (Karren Karagulian) who lives in NYC. He’s charged with getting the marriage annulled. I felt badly for the guy because he was in the middle of taking his godfather oaths at a christening. And Toros knows he will be in A LOT of trouble if he can’t fix this because he was supposed to be keeping the scion out of trouble. Believe me, ain’t no one who can keep Vanya out of trouble.

Toros gets on his cell and enlists a couple of goons to drive over to Ivan’s place, saying he’ll meet them there.  One guy, Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) is a bear-ish bearded man who will provide some comic relief. The other is a good-looking younger guy, Igor (Yuriy Borisov), who will provide the muscle–or the baseball bat, if needed.

When confronted at the manse’s front door, Vanya tries to push the two guys out. This will not work because Vanya has all of the strength of a newborn songbird. Ani is freaking out and swearing at the guys to get out. They both slander the men for their Armenian heritage. Although Igor may be Russian. Anyway, it’s interesting how the Russian party line is to deny the distinctive heritage of former parts of the USSR, like Armenia and Ukraine, unless they are insulting them.

The enforcers get inside and Garnick calmly tells Vanya that the marriage is gonna have to be annulled. Uh-uh! yells Ani, fighting for their marriage. Your parents are flying here right now, says Garnick . Ivan goes white as a sheet and runs away. Literally runs away, down the street. In his underwear. This is Vanya not fighting for his marriage. Sigh, those halcyon days back in Vegas. 

Russian Timee C., I mean, Vanya, manages to get away and then the enforcers are back in the house laying down the law to Ani: You’ll help us find him. Then, divorce!

Okay, so the scene that follows is weird. Ani, understandably, is scared and screaming at the guys to get out. Then she tries to leave the house, and Igor physically picks Ani up to stop her leaving. She screams that he is assaulting her and swears and insults him a lot. Garnick approaches her and she kicks him into a glass table. Crash! Pole dancing has given her strong legs. Uh oh, the guy has a broken nose.

Is the guy mad? No, he admires her verve. Toros shows up and tells Igor that he is restraining Ani too tightly. He speaks calmly to her while Garnick ices his broken nose, saying he thinks he has a concussion.  Igor looks like his feelings are hurt.

Now… I was so glad that there were no scenes of the men using violence against Ani because they were angry at her or to compel her to cooperate with them. But… it’s hard to believe that hired goons whose business it is to make people do what the boss wants, would be so restrained. When violence is typically what enforcers employ, right? Was the scene supposed to be humorous because we wouldn’t expect a non-rugby playing woman to out-fight two men? Idk.

Anyway, if you expect Ivan’s parents to be tough as nails, you are right. I mean they’re Russian. And if you expect Ani and the three enforcers to drive all over God’s green earth–in this case, Brooklyn– to find him, you’ll be right. Enjoy your visit to Coney Island and Tatiana’s Grill in Brighton Beach.

While searching for Vanya, you can see that Ani is thinking through her options. Can she win over his parents? It’s hard to believe that a person in their twenties would think speaking Russian can override their view of her as a prostitute; someone completely unsuitable for their bratty son. Does she even want him anymore? 

Although we don’t know how Ani got into sex work or how much she doesn’t want to head back to work at the club (she was pretty glad when she quit), it’s become clear to us that she sees all of her interactions with straight men as transactional. So, when Igor shows him any small kindnesses, like offering her a scarf, she insults him. Her slurs include calling him a fa**ot. Yeah, that made me a lot less sympathetic to her character. I mean even Vanya didn’t use any  derogatory language against gay men; in English or Russian!

One real plus of Anora, whether you like the characters or not, is the acting performances. Mikey Madison as Anora/Ani and Yuriy Borisov as Igor make a particular impression.

P.S. For the most part, sex worker has supplanted the word prostitute. “Sex worker” eliminates the negative connotations of prostitution, including associations with criminality and immorality.

P.P.S. Sex work is often a dangerous occupation, particularly for workers whose clients drive up to them on the pavements where they solicit. According to a 2020 Sex Workers Project report, “…globally, sex workers have a 45% – 75% chance of experiencing sexual violence in the workplace.” According to U.S. data from 2012-20, homicide was a “prevalent cause of death” owing to proximities to drug trade and human trafficking.

Decriminalization of sex work can lead to lower rates of violence against workers (Koster, 2017) because clients know that sex workers can report crimes against them without fear of being arrested for prostitution. The Nordic model decriminalizes sex work but penalizes soliciting (offering payment) for sex. Sex workers indicate that clients’ fear of being arrested, ultimately makes their work less safe. Curbside encounters are rushed with the sex worker having little time to assess a client and encounters are more likely to be in isolated places, making them more vulnerable. 

Globally, 80% of sex workers are female  and 3/4 are between the ages of 13 – 25 (Fondation Scelles,2012). Sex work can be voluntary or forced. Obviously,  whenever minors are involved, sex work cannot be considered voluntary. 

Since the majority of sex workers are women/female, social scientists and feminist scholars and humanist philosophers have delved into how prevailing (patriarchal) social structures and education and job opportunities impact women/females. In Feminist ‘Perspectives on Sex Markets,’ Anne Phillips posits that “markets in sexual services only arise in conditions of social inequality.” While philosopher Debra Satz writes that negative images of women promoted by sex work “shapes and influences the way women are seen as a whole.” Building on that, Iceland, in the interest of gender equality, has banned strip clubs. 

The sex positive movement is non-judgmental on adult, consensual sex. Sex workers have called for legalization of sex work and unionization for better work conditions. Additionally, there are feminist and/or sex worker viewpoints that all people have a right to bodily autonomy, which includes choosing to participate in sex work for economic betterment and/or empowering sexual expression.  

Movie Loon’s Movie Review Shortcut:

Grade:   C

Cut to the Chase:   Director Sean Baker’s latest film about sex workers. He says he wants to reduce the stigma of sex work. To me, it seemed like a typical straight male gaze. But the exploration of Brooklyn’s Russian and Eastern heritage neighborhoods is interesting.

Humor Highlight:  Vache Tovmasyan as Garnick, who good naturedly keeps working with a broken nose. His boss def should’ve given him the night off.