[FILM] Anora (2024)
The thing that Anora does extremely well is being able to shift between moods in a way that feels completely natural. The first act, that displays all acts of love and kindness to be transactional in nature, felt absolutely nauseating. Shot in sickly-sweet pastel pinks and oranges, this section was quite difficult to watch for me, and there was sense of dread that the happiness of the protagonist was fake and fleeting.
When things eventually do start going wrong, the film switches gears into an almost slapstick-style comedy. This section reminded me a lot of early films by the Coen Brothers, with a high level of chaotic energy. I was legitimately surprised by how funny this film was, given how dark the story started out. We are also at this point treated to some of the best "henchman" characters outside of a Scorcese film - these people were hilarious and an absolute highlight of the film.
In the third act, the film switches back into somber territory, and an absolutely earth-shattering ending that does a tremendous job of underlining all the core themes of the film, and putting everything you had seen before in context. It's by far the best moment of the film, and one that would not have been possible without Mikey Madison's incredible performance. In my viewing, nobody moved for a few minutes even after the lights went on and the credits rolled. It's really an amazing achievement.
I think my main criticism is that the first act maybe didn't need to go on for as long as it did. We need character development between the two leads for later story beats to land, but for a film that ultimately is building towards a very specific final scene, it maybe would have been a little more impactful to make the journey a bit shorter (the film is almost two and a half hours long).
Nonetheless, this is a film that I enjoyed quite a lot, and while there are definitely films that I enjoyed more this year, when it inevitably wins Best Picture at the Oscars I won't be too upset.