MANILA, Philippines — Indie director Sean Baker goes all out for his biggest film yet "Anora," the most recent winner of the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The titular character played by Mikey Madison is a young sex worker in Brooklyn who is introduced to Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch, as she is the only one with a background in Russian.
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The wealthy Ivan would rather spend his days drinking or playing video games, and some of the money goes to paying Ani (as she prefers being called) to be his girlfriend for a week on top of several sexual encounters.
An escapade takes the two to Las Vegas where an infatuated Ivan proposes to Ani and the two get married. All seems joyful until Ivan's parents learn of the union, dismayed and prepared to put an end to it.
With a budget of $6 million (more than P350 million), "Anora" is by far Baker's most ambitious movie yet after indie darlings like "Tangerine," "The Florida Project," and "Red Rocket" in the last decade alone.
However even with more money at hand, Baker still keeps his humanist approach to storytelling about the daily lives of individuals, granted his lead star now is embroiled in a Cinderella story of sorts.
The premise alone promises intrigue but the film takes a huge turn days after the marriage, taking Ani through literally a wild ride in a world she believes she's found finality.
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Making themselves known at this pivotal point of the movie are the trio of Toros, Garick, and Igor who were all hired to search for the newlyweds.
Yura Borisov is receiving attention for his stern yet quiet portrayal of Igor, but equally deserving of praise are the hilarious performances of Armenian actors Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan.
The same can be said for Eydelshteyn who does well to portray Ivan as an intoxicated brat whose elite upbringing leaves his blind to the emotions of others.
But at the heart of Baker's story — which he also edited — is Madison's Ani, so full of life and ferocity that she's willing to stand her ground in the face of actual foreigners she believes are sabotaging her chance at a new life.
Madison broke out in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and the fifth "Scream" movie, and now her talents could see her taking on more big-budget projects where she leads the casting list.
"Anora" is both funny and endearing, a real whirlwind through the lens of one Brooklyn resident who is so used to her day-to-day life, where instances this extravagant could only truly be found in fairytales — and not all of them have happy endings.
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