Better Things actress Mikey Madison goes the distance in a raw and revealing performance as a high-class stripper who is romanced, and married by, the son of a Russian oligarch in Sean Baker‘s Anora.
The pic is one of many in Baker’s canon, including Starlet and Red Rocket, that centers on a sex worker. In fact, the filmmaker said Wednesday at a Cannes Film Festival press conference for Anora that “my next film involves a sex worker.”
Why is Baker so hot for the subject?
“It’s important to explore what sex work is in the modern age and how it applies in a capitalist society; it’s a job, a livelihood, it’s a job, it’s a career and it should be respected.”
“In my opinion, I’m speaking for myself, be decriminalized and not in any way regulated,” he added. “It’s a sex worker’s body … it’s their body and it’s up to them to decide how to use in their livelihood.”
“There are a million stories to be told in that world,” says the filmmaker. “If there’s one intention with these films (it’s) telling human stories.”
“It also helps remove the stigma that’s applied to this livelihood.”
Baker wrote the script specifically for Madison, who mentioned that she’s never had a director write a specific part for her. While her Anora finds love, the oligarch son’s family sets on destroying the marriage.
He also said, “I approached this movie in terms of themes, and levels of power and power dynamics. And also in terms of Anora, she has her power. She’s in control. Even when the world is coming down on her.”
Adds Baker, “Halfway through the edit, someone called out that it had similarities to Pretty Woman. I grew up in the ’80s, Pretty Woman had an effect on me. Maybe it was in my subconscious.” It was vital that Anora be grounded in a reality for the director, who was going against the tropes of romantic comedies, and tackling a subject that Hollywood would typically sidestep.
Anora received a 10-minute standing ovation at its Cannes world premiere on Tuesday night. The pic is currently 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critics.