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Stars: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Darya Ekamasova, Yura Borisov, Paul Weissman, Lindsey Normington, Emily Weider, Luna Sofía Miranda, Vincent Radwinsky, Brittney Rodriguez, Sophia Carnabuci | Written and Directed by Sean Baker

Since releasing his first feature in 2000, writer/director Sean Baker has built himself a name as an exciting voice in independent cinema. As his works have gotten more attention, from Tangerine being shot on multiple iPhones, to Willem Dafoe’s Oscar nomination for The Florida Project, Baker has grown in stature as a director. This leads us to Anora, the writer/director’s eighth feature which won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival, and manages to be another exemplary piece of cinema from the creative.

British viewers may find themselves surprised in this film’s opening moments, as a remix of Take That’s ‘Greatest Day’ plays while a line of exotic dancers perform for paying customers.

Spoiler alert: The crazy, unpredictable Oscar season? Still crazy. Still unpredictable.

Fresh off a one-two punch weekend where “Anora” cleaned up at the PGA and DGA Awards, the BAFTAs decided to stir the pot with their own take on the race. If history tells us anything, it’s that BAFTA can be either a crystal ball or a red herring.

In 2024, every BAFTA winner (except for visual effects) went on to win the Oscar, making it the most predictive year in recent memory. The year before, however, BAFTA charted its own path — only “Everything Everywhere All at Once” editor Paul Rogers repeated at the Oscars. So, with the final Oscar voting closing on Tuesday, Feb. 18, let’s break down the key takeaways from BAFTA’s curveballs and what they could mean for Hollywood’s biggest night.

Carlos Diehz stars as Cardinal Benitez in director Edward Berger’s Conclave, a Focus Features release.

Mark Eydelshteyn — dubbed the "Russian Timothée Chalamet" for his youth, slender build, and floppy brown hair — has been tapped to play the male lead in the upcoming second season of Amazon Prime Video's Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Deadline reports. This casting comes on the heels of Eydelshteyn's breakout performance in Sean Baker's Palme d'Or-winning Anora, where he played Ivan "Vanya" Zakharov, the love interest to the title character.

Details about season 2 of Mr. and Mrs. Smith are scant at the moment, though with Eydelshteyn now in the lead, it does appear that the series will take a more anthology route, with different actors playing another set of Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith, respectively. Showrunner Francesca Sloane, when asked if her show would follow this route, would only say "maybe." No word on who will play the female title character, though apparently Billie Eilish was being pursued at one point.

Stars: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Darya Ekamasova, Yura Borisov, Paul Weissman, Lindsey Normington, Emily Weider, Luna Sofía Miranda, Vincent Radwinsky, Brittney Rodriguez, Sophia Carnabuci | Written and Directed by Sean Baker

Since releasing his first feature in 2000, writer/director Sean Baker has built himself a name as an exciting voice in independent cinema. As his works have gotten more attention, from Tangerine being shot on multiple iPhones, to Willem Dafoe’s Oscar nomination for The Florida Project, Baker has grown in stature as a director. This leads us to Anora, the writer/director’s eighth feature which won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival, and manages to be another exemplary piece of cinema from the creative.

British viewers may find themselves surprised in this film’s opening moments, as a remix of Take That’s ‘Greatest Day’ plays while a line of exotic dancers perform for paying customers.

The winner of the 2024 Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Anora, has finally arrived in theaters. Directed by Sean Baker, Anora tells the story of Anora/Ani (Mikey Madson), a stripper working in a New York City nightclub. Due to being able to converse in Russian, one night, her bosses introduce her to a client, Ivan "Vanya" Zakharov (Mark Eidelstein), the son of Russian oligarchs with implied criminal ties. After Vanya hires Ani to be his girlfriend for the weekend, the two get caught up in a romance that leads to them getting married. However, when Vanya's parents discover this, they send enforcers to annul the marriage, which results in Vanya running off and leaving Ani and a group of enforcers on a wild goose chase through the night to find him.

While Anora is certainly funnier than audiences might expect, its ending scene is an emotional gut punch...

“Anora” has been the talk of the film world for months and it’s finally landing in theaters.

The film follows a sex worker who falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch whose father shows up and tries to get the two to break up. The film hails from Sean Baker whose previous films “The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket” meant that this movie was going to be hyped — and that was before it won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new movie, how to watch “Anora” right now and where to expect it on streaming.

When does “Anora” come out?

“Anora” opened in theaters Friday, Oct. 18.

Is “Anora” streaming or in theaters?

Right now “Anora” is available exclusively in theaters.

Neon – the film’s distributor – has an exclusive deal with Hulu for streaming rights, so expect to...

This review was originally published during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Sean Baker is the type of filmmaker who knows what it takes to make films about difficult human experiences with genuineness and without judgment. In The Florida Project, he demonstrated the hardships faced by a single mother raising a young girl from a motel. With Tangerine, heartbreak from a sex workers perspective was at the forefront. For the 77th Cannes Film Festival, Baker returned with a story about the rise and fall of an exotic dancer's American dream. Anora is an unrealistic, yet lovable rags-to-riches story that is bursting with chaos, hilarity, raunchiness, and a stupendous performance from Mikey Madison.

Anora

Director Sean BakerRelease Date October 18, 2024Studio(s) Cre Film, FilmNation EntertainmentWriters Sean BakerCast Zo Vnak, Anton Bitter, Sophia Carnabuci, Michael Sergio, Vincent Radwinsky, Charlton Lamar, Paul Weissman, Masha Zhak, Alena Gurevich, Emily Weider, Darya Ekamasova, Lindsey Normington, Ross Brodar,...

Sean Baker's new movie Anora is one of the best-reviewed films of the year, which makes the arrival of its anticipated release all the more exciting. After the director's previously acclaimed works like The Florida Project and Red Rocket, the built-in excitement in seeing what he would do next made Anora a project to look forward to. It was only after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival that hype for the film grew to new heights. The response vaulted Anora into the thick of awards season, with it predicted to dominate 2025 Oscar nominations in multiple categories.

The 2024 movie stars Mikey Madison as a sex worker named Anora and follows her life after falling in love. Following its Cannes debut, where it won the Palme d'Or - setting it up as an Oscars 2025 Best Picture nominee, the love for Anora grew with each new festival showing. The result is a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes,...

A new trailer offers a closer look at Anora. The critically acclaimed movie, which hold a Certified Fresh 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes from more than 80 Anora reviews following its premiere at Cannes in May, is the latest feature from writer-director Sean Baker and stars Mikey Madison in the title role as a New York City-based stripper who finds herself plunged into a whole new world of wealth and intrigue when she agrees to marry the rich Russian heir Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn).

Neon has now unveiled the second official trailer for Anora. It kicks off with a full minute exploring how Anora and Vanya meet and fall in love, before bringing in the conflict at the center of the movie when Vanya's parents send a handler to fix their son's mistake. This results in Anora physically fighting back, followed by a shot of her gagged with what appears to be a red scarf.

The Zurich Film Festival (Zff) has unveiled the eleven titles set to screen as part of its Gala programme during its upcoming 20th edition, running October 3 – 13.

The selection features Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winning feature Anora, starring Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman, and Lindsey Normington. Also screening is Steve McQueen’s Blitz. The film is set to open the London Film Festival and stars Saoirse Ronan, Elliot Heffernan, Harris Dickinson and Paul Weller.

The selection also features German filmmaker Edward Berger’s latest feature Conclave. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow. The official synopsis reads: Following the death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) is tasked with leading the search for a new Pope in the far corners of the Vatican. Lawrence quickly finds himself at the center of a conspiracy, as the cardinals forge factions and foster rivalries to serve their own ambitions. As the political scheming intensifies,...

In the Anora trailer, Mikey Madison (Better Things) stars as a sex worker who impulsively marries a filthy rich man, who happens to be the son of a Russian oligarch.

“What do you do to get all this?” Madison asks him in the trailer.

In the Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket) film, Madison’s Anora gets her happily ever after when she meets and marries the son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eidelstein) in a Las Vegas chapel. Throughout the trailer, Anora flaunts designer furs, admires her flashy diamond ring,...