Palme d’Or-winning sex worker film Anora delves into romantic dream turned disaster

LOS ANGELES – When American writer-director Sean Baker approached American actress Mikey Madison with the lead title role in the film Anora, she felt both honoured and intimidated.

“I’ve never had a director write a film for me, you know, tailor-make a specific character for me,” said the 25-year-old actress.

Her worries eventually eased because she and Baker, 53, were “on the same page” when it came to the direction of her role as a sex worker who gets married.

He had seen Madison’s film work, including her performance as Manson Family follower Susan Atkins in Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood (2019), and decided that if she wanted the role, he would write the film script specifically for her to be the lead.

The romantic comedy-drama ended up being the first American film since The Tree Of Life (2011) to win the coveted Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Opening in Singapore cinemas on Oct 31, Anora follows a sex worker named Ani, whose legal name is Anora, from Brooklyn, New York.

She meets and spontaneously marries an immature young man named Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov, son of a Russian oligarch.

Ani’s fairy-tale life is at risk when Ivan, played by Russian actor Mark Eidelshteyn, must reckon with his parents, who want his marriage to a sex worker quickly annulled.

Baker wanted audiences to experience two different films when watching Anora, as it goes from a “romantic comedy” to a “sobering reality” for its lead characters. He is best known for directing independent features about the lives of marginalised people like immigrants, sex workers and the homeless in films such as Take Out (2004), Tangerine (2015) and The Florida Project (2017).  

He characterised the first part of the film as a Cinderella-like love story, and for Eidelshteyn, that rings true for his character.

“He (Ivan) had no love before Anora, and it’s a story of first love,” said the 22-year-old actor.

While his character may be seen as a “bad guy”, Eidelshteyn believes that Ivan’s complicated life may be misunderstood.

However, Madison has a different view on the relationship between their characters.

“I think maybe it’s a love story, depending on whom you ask, maybe I have more of a cynical perspective,” she said, noting that she sees it as less of a love story for Ani.

One of the most important things for both Baker and Madison was being able to authentically portray Ani’s life as a sex worker.

“I did a lot of research on the character, into the world of sex work and what that would be like. I talked to consultants and went to strip clubs and read memoirs,” she said.

Baker does not want his films to imply that the experiences of all sex workers are homogenous.

Rather, he hopes Anora will dispel the “unfair stigma” that sex workers face while also allowing viewers to connect with Ani’s unique journey. REUTERS