‘Anora’ rave reviews: Mikey Madison shines in Sean Baker’s Oscars frontrunner
Sean Baker‘s “Anora” is one of the best-reviewed movies of the year. This seriocomic tale about an exotic dancer (Mikey Madison) and her whirlwind love affair with a Russian oligarch’s son (Mark Eydelshteyn) opens in limited release on October 18. It has already won the Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival and tops our Oscar predictions for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.
Neon plans to platform the picture in the weeks ahead. The company distributed the last four Palme d’Or champs, including Best Picture nominees “Triangle of Sadness” and “Anatomy of a Fall” and Best Picture winner “Parasite.”
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Below is just a sampling of the rave reviews that have earned “Anora” a score of 98 at Rotten Tomatoes and 90 at MetaCritic, where it earned the “universal acclaim” designation. Expect this film to figure prominently in the various movie critics awards at year’s end.
Maureen Lee Lenker (EW) opines: “Madison is effervescent in the role, blending street smarts, romantic naivety, and an effortless charm; it’s obvious why Ani is good at her job. Madison is heartbreaking, sexy, audacious, hilarious, and righteously enraged at different turns, making Ani a mesmerizingly real person.
Peter Debruge (Variety) observes: “Baker has always had an instinct for spotting talent, and here, he doesn’t have to show Madison pole dancing à la Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers” for audiences to buy into the authenticity (it may actually be an advantage that she’s not already a star, or impossibly proportioned). We read Ani as real, and we feel deeply invested in how this shotgun wedding plays out.”
Alissa Wilkinson (New York Times) concurs: “Madison has always been good, an ingénue with extraordinarily expressive features who can play bratty and na?ve at the same time. But this role requires her to go for broke, with elements of slapstick, romance, comedy and tragedy, along with dancing in skimpy or nonexistent clothing and throwing a couple of powerful punches.”
Justin Chang (New Yorker) declares: Baker’s multifaceted love for his characters proves infectious and sustaining, as does his belief that acts of unexpected kindness can redeem even the darkest nights of the soul.
Kevin Maher (Times of London) notes: “The story reaches a new pitch of Coen brothers-style black comedy. Then, just when you think you have it worked out, Baker hits you with a final scene of sobering poignancy.”
David Ehrlich (IndieWire) writes: “Madison’s performance fills in the broad strokes of its signifiers with a pointillistic degree of lived-in detail.”
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