Anora

When talking about my experiences with art there’s a word I rarely get to use to describe them. This word is “surreal”, and I was taught to use it when describing art that feels so close, yet so far, to the human experience. My favorite kind of surreal art is art that captures the beauty between my understanding of the human experience and the fantasy experience that may be possible in our regular world. Although this doesn’t exactly align with the actual definition of surreal art or the surrealism art movement, it’s a definition I prefer to use because it can include art that’s less absurd than what’s usually considered for the genre. Examples of my favorite kinds of surreal art are paintings of landscapes that are glorified in their creation. These paintings are usually based on locations that may exist in our world, but made more beautiful when captured in a moment throughout the creation of the painting. This is surreal to me because it is the human creator who was able to combine what they see in reality and what they feel as they experience seeing the landscape into the painting. Thus, they are able to find the overlap between the fantasy, as what they felt doesn’t exist to me, and reality, the depiction of an actual landscape, into a piece of art. 

Finding art that feels surreal to me is something I don’t actively do, but it’s something I actively wish for. The desire to connect with the experiences/thoughts of others, and the want to experience emotions that I haven’t found, or rarely find, being the main reason for this wish. It’s not often pieces of media are able to create that surreal feeling for me, but they normally become media that belongs in my favorites list when they do occur. This list is filled with experiences I cherish, be it a book I read during my childhood, or a 2025 Oscars Best Picture winner.

Anora is a film that was released in 2024, and has immediately become one of my favorite films of all time. It’s a drama comedy directed by Sean Baker featuring Mikey Madison as the protagonist who shares her name with that of the film, Anora. She’s an exotic dancer/sex worker who happens to get a chance to date the son of a Russian weapons dealer, eventually falling in love with both him and the lifestyle he brings. However, the existence of their relationship brings trouble she couldn’t have expected, and we follow her experience handling those troubles. It’s a film that makes me laugh, cry, experience the heights of fantasy riches, and the weights of the low income struggle. As a fan of Sean Baker’s previous film, The Florida Project, I expected to enjoy Anora, but I did not expect to love it as much as I do. 

Sean Baker’s ability to rip through the spectrum between a fantasy life that most people could never experience with the harsh reality so many people live in is something that truly needs to be studied. His directing and screenplay writing are only amplified by actors who can truly embody the characters that exist in this story. Every moment of this film feels grounded enough to be real to me, and I’m sure to others out there as well. Whether it be Anora and Ivan popping champagne in casinos, or a short conversation in Igor’s grandmother’s car, there is not a single second where this movie is wasting your emotional investment. 

There’s a magic to Anora that I haven’t found in film for as long as I can remember. The contrasting tones of the beginning and end gives the film the opportunity to make me feel and experience every gradient between those throughout the entire runtime. Every rewatch provides me the chance to notice more subtleties in the acting, dialogue, and directing. Little details like how Anora moves due to her long butterfly engraved nails, shots that imply the power dynamics between characters, and highly specific use of names when characters are talking to each other do so much to elevate the film. Even if I didn’t love this film, I think there’s a level of appreciation I have to give to everyone who worked on it. I can feel every ounce of effort that went into the making of Anora, and the product of that effort is a film worthy of praise.

Anora is only slightly longer than 2 hours, but spending time with these characters as they traverse through the plot makes it breeze by. I’d love to spend more time with the lives of these characters, be it individually or together. They all feel like people I could run into on the streets of a big city, and the way they interact is a gold mine for comedy, drama, and emotional awakenings. Although I say I want more from these characters, that doesn’t mean this movie isn’t fulfilling with what it provides me through its character work. I’m just a glutton for incredible character writing like what exists here.

I don’t understand how Sean Baker is able to create these emotionally complex movies, but I’m going to welcome them with open arms. The product of him blasting through fantasy and harsh reality leaves me in a position between my own life and the film I watched, without any trace of emotional whiplash. This position exists in the overlap between the fantasy stories of film and the reality of my everyday life. It’s a position that can only make me describe my experience with Anora as surreal.