In screwball comedy “Anora,” a dancer’s descent into delightful chaos

A Brooklyn exotic dancer goes on a wild journey in Sean Baker’s screwball comedy “Anora,” a four-star comic delight. Mikey Madison shines in a breakthrough role that earned her an Oscar nomination, one of six for the movie.

Anora

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (out of 4)

Starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Yura Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan, Aleksey Serebryakov and Darya Ekamasova. Written and directed by Sean Baker. Currently streaming on multiple services. 139 minutes. 18A

Peter Howell

Movie Critic

“Fifteen. Cash. Upfront.”

“Deal.”

So goes the year’s most unromantic cinema seduction in “Anora,” which paradoxically is also the best movie of 2024.

The dollars-for-dallying deal — “fifteen” means $15,000 — between a canny New York exotic dancer and the pampered son of a Russian oligarch sets in motion Sean Baker’s high-voltage screwball comedy, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes last May — and now the Oscar front-runner after a recent string of industry wins.

Writer-director Baker has long had a fascination with, as well as genuine empathy for, the imperfect characters in the sex-for-hire trade, as seen in his previous films “Starlet,” “Tangerine,” “The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket.”

His obsession comes to full fruition with “Anora,” in which Mikey Madison, who played a Manson Family member in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” simply slays in the title role, a potty-mouthed Brooklyn pole dancer having a cockeyed Cinderella moment.

Anora, who prefers to be called Ani, meets baby-faced Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn). She’s 23, mindful of money and her future; he’s 21 going on 12, without a care in the world — a situation that’s about to change.

Ani and Vanya hook up at the Brooklyn strip club where she unhappily pursues her trade, working for a bad boss. Vanya is attracted to Ani’s forthright sexuality and amused by her attempts at speaking Russian, which she learned from her grandmother.

She seems charmed by Vanya’s naivety (he may be a virgin) and his willingness to spend big money on what they call in the sex trade “the girlfriend experience,” which in this case is $15,000 for one week of constant company and carnal amusement. Extensions can be negotiated.

Feckless Vanya is used to living the high life in America. He resides in a waterfront Brooklyn mansion that looks like an art museum, spending his days getting stoned and playing video games while his father, Nikolai (Aleksey Serebryakov), and mother, Galina (Darya Ekamasova), take care of shady business back home in Russia.

After much spending, humping and partying, including a wild New Year’s Eve bash, Ani and Vanya have a quickie wedding in Las Vegas, for which she demands a three-carat diamond ring (generous Vanya makes it four).

Here’s where this speedster of a tale really gets going, taking turns we can’t see coming and delivering a story that completely satisfies.

LINK TO FULL REVIEW: https://bit.ly/40UloeD