Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Mikey Madison reflects on the roles that shaped her path to Anora, from "Better Things" to Once Upon a Time… At the Cannes Film Festival press conference, Mikey Madison said that director Sean Baker would act out different sex positions with his wife, producer Samantha Quan, to demonstrate to the actors what he wanted them to do..
Igor: PLEASE! STOP! SCREAM!.
Mikey Madison plays the title role, a New York lap dancer. Then the story hooks us. She marries unwisely (a Russian oligarch's immature young son) and then finds herself in a terrible jam.
The glut of nudity and sex is unfashionable for a mainstream picture, but both this and the high drama – increasingly comic – have a rare vibrancy. Striking locations too – Las Vegas and out-of-season Coney Island are skilfully captured. At well over two hours, it's too long, but it just about holds our attention because we can't imagine how it's going to end.
London Film Festival screenings sold out and I'm not surprised. This is dynamic stuff from a fearless director.. See the full lineup for the 62nd New York Film Festival this Fall.