“Anora,” written and directed by Sean Baker, may just be one of the best films I’ve seen this year. I have never seen a movie that accurately captures how Gen Z treats relationships and love, but this film hit the nail on the head.
Even before seeing the film, I was really excited to watch it. It seemed like a cool new love story by A24, one that I, no doubt, wouldn’t be able to shut up about for days. In many ways, this film is that classic, aesthetic, boy meets girl love story, but that only scratches the surface of its true meaning.
“Anora” follows the story of a 20-something girl named Ani who works as a sex worker in Brooklyn. One night, she is on her dinner break when her boss tells her that there is a high-paying customer who wants a girl who speaks Russian. At first, Ani hesitates, but eventually gives in and goes to meet the man.
The “man” turns out to be a 21-year-old Russian kid, much different from the other customers at the establishment. His name is Ivan, but he tells Ani to call him Vanya. He’s really scrawny, but also charming and adorable at the same time. The audience can tell that Ani loves the attention he gives her from the start, even going so far as to exchange numbers for outside-of-work visits.
Over the course of a very short time, Ani and Vanya develop a seemingly whirlwind romance, complete with fancy dinners, expensive gifts and spontaneous trips to Las Vegas. However, all of this comes crashing down when Vanya’s parents find out that the pair got married. Vanya is clearly terrified of facing any sort of consequence, so he leaves Ani behind and runs away.
Now, you may be asking: What does this have to do with how Gen Z treats relationships? Well, it’s because of how fast their relationship developed in such a short amount of time. From the trailer to the film itself, the audience is just as convinced as Ani that Vanya is in love with her. In actuality, he was just looking for a good time on his last trip to America and used Ani to do so.
Vanya is a classic example of people who treat feelings like jokes. They love-bomb, toy and lie to get what they want, but in the end they really only care about themselves. Of course, not all boys act like this, but Ani’s character clearly hasn’t figured this out yet, which is where I feel that most girls in high school and even college are.
Ani, just like any girl, just wants a boy who will shower her with admiration and actually mean what he says for once, and I think she found this in Vanya. She thought that he valued her for more than just her body and saw that she was more than just a sex worker, but he didn’t. The devastation of her realizing this is summed up in the very last scene of the movie, and let me tell you, it was truly gut-wrenching.
I would recommend this movie to anyone. I think it was witty and action-packed while also being deeply relatable. While the story follows a straight couple, I believe any person who has ever loved has felt like Ani has at one point in their life. I love this movie so much because I feel like this side of promiscuity and sex work isn’t talked about enough, and Baker visualized it beautifully.
