I had heard very little about Anora, but as it starred Mikey Madison who I loved in 2022’s Scream as she was so freaking nuts, I decided to give it a watch on a very cold Tuesday afternoon during the one showing it had for that day in my theatre. Since watching the movie, I have learned that it actually is very popular and many people see it as the role that could make Mikey Madison a huge star and that is honestly hard to agree with
How to Download Anora
Anora was released on October 18, 2024. You should be able to download or stream the film from Hulu or other streaming platforms in about two months from this date. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review: Anora’s Blend of Romance and Drama
This is a movie that has a bit of everything going on. I guess I would say that at its core it is a love story, but there is more going on here than just that. Mikey Madison plays the role of a stripper called Anora, or Ani as she goes by. She can speak Russian and she works as a stripper in a Russian part of Brooklyn.
As this is a strip club popular with the Russian community of Brooklyn and she speaks Russian, a dude at the club puts Ani in touch with a guy called Ivan, or Vanya as he likes to go by. Vanya is at school, but he spends most of his time just screwing around, oh, he is also the son of a super rich Russian oligarch.
Ani and Vanya: A Modern Love Story
With Ani being so cute and so likable, Ani and Vanya hit it off right away and he pays her a ton of money to spend the week with her. She agrees and the two of them develop feelings. I swear that as I write this I am just making the connection to Pretty Woman! How the heck I did not have the Batman level detective skills to figure this out while watching I am not sure.
Vanya is not alone. He has some “people” that his parents hire to watch over him, including a guy called Igor who puts up with a lot of crap. Well, Ani and Vanya elope, but she soon realizes that he really is an immature guy and this comes to a head when his parents demand the marriage be ended or annulled, and comes to the USA to make it happen.
Why Ani’s Journey is the Heart of the Movie
I have to say that what really sells this movie is that Ani is a woman that you just want to see be happy and succeed. Plus, Vanya and his family suck big time, for a large part of the movie, I really thought that Vanya would come good and stand up to them, that was what I wanted to happen and no spoilers, but things in this movie do not go the way that you probably expect them to.
A Film Full of Surprises
If you want a good solid movie that has a bit of romance, some tension, some peril, and even some laughs, Anora certainly has all of that. When I came out of the theatre, I was shocked to see that this movie lasted just over two hours as the time flew by. I would be very interested to see this again at some point. I came into it with very little expectations, but this is one of my biggest surprises of the year.
