Anora

I don't understand at all how this got 5 Oscar's this year. I'm watching for the first time as it has now hit streaming and I was left very confused. It was slow in the first half, picked up a little in the second and then the last half went back to being slow. A lot of scenes were super drawn out, there was no need for the film to be as long as it was. We got absolutely no back story on Anora at all which is what I was waiting for. Don't get me wrong, Mikey Madison isn't a bad actress but I was waiting for more. For the most part she just cursed, showed her body and screamed a lot. I didn't really see a performance worth best actress, even though her performance wasn't terrible. The script also wasn't that good, there were a lot of pieces that were overly repetitive and the characters were pretty much one dimensional. I guess the audience is left to use our imagination but I wish we were given more for the runtime.

Here's what I saw in the first half of the movie: two very young adults have sex, smoke, get drunk, have sex, smoke, get drunk, sit on the couch, have sex, smoke, sit on the couch, and engage in an occasional uninteresting conversation, have sex, get drunk, smoke, sit on the couch. Then go to Vegas and get married and have sex, smoke, get drunk, have sex, smoke, get drunk.

The 2nd half of the movie, introduces other characters. From this moment on the movie becomes this long and arduous path for this new caste of characters to get the couple's marriage annulled.

At the very, very end I finally saw a drop of emotion. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for me to like this movie.

I had no idea who Anora was as a whole person, only where she worked, and that's the reason it lacked substance.

The other issue is that the movie was sort of a drama and sort of a comedy but didn't fulfill either. It would have been far better to have gone deeper into her character, so that we could care about her and her heartbreak.

Sorry the movie is predictable and also not really well made as some parts are too long without giving anything more while others are too short and should be more investigated. The only positive thing of the whole 2 hours that the predictable and poorly directed and acted movie is the main actress that is the only reason I made till the end. The car scenes at the end of the movie is the only really scene of the whole thing.

I don't understand how this movie won 5 oscars... probably the level is so low nowadays that you can win big also without this kind of film... This movie won best original screenplay instead of real pain....no idea what they smoked before voting.

The first 40 minutes can be quite misleading, likely catching viewers off guard if they enter with the expectation of a romantic narrative.

Once the first act concludes and the second act kicks in, there's a striking shift in both tone and style that I honestly did not see coming.

The comedy is genuinely entertaining, with moments that will have you laughing out loud. Despite serious circumstances, the absurdity of the situations elicits laughter and chuckles.

They have certainly nailed the dark comedy sides of the story.

However, I found the dramatic elements to be less impactful than I had anticipated, leaving me puzzled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback it has garnered from all around.

While Mikey Madison delivered an impressive performance, and fully deserves every praise coming along her way, her character needed more depth to properly flourish. It feels as if the writing intentionally held back on details, leaving the job of contemplation solely to the audience.

I wish that weren't the case.

My expectations were high, solely based on the fact that it somehow, probably by error, won the majestic Palme d'Or. Every film that previously won the Palme d'Or has at worst been mediocre, but never a chronically awful waste of time movie. Mostly Palme d'Or winners are absolute classics. Who to blame? The 2024 Jury? Yes probably. Definitely. The acting kept sinking to new lows in every scene. Not one of the actors delivered a credible performance. The stereotyping was unfounded unresearched BS. I am not even disappointed for having wasted 2 hours of my life on this garbage, I'm just flabbergasted how this could have made the shortlist to Cannes film festival, or any other festival for that matter. I will keep a mental note of all cast and writers, director etc associated with this garbage production to make sure I don't waste my time having to sit through such appalling productions again.