At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, director Sean Baker won the Palme d’Or when his romantic drama Anora was chosen as the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition. The movie has been generating Oscar buzz ever since, with Variety reporting that lead actress Mikey Madison (Scream, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) could be one of the “few sure-fire bets” in the Best Actress category, while Baker could end up being nominated as producer, director, writer, and editor. That all remains to be seen, but soon enough we’ll find out how a wider audience responds to the film, as Neon (the distributor behind Best Picture winner Parasite) will be giving Anora a theatrical release this Friday, October 18th. With just a few days to go until that date arrives, a new trailer for the film has been unveiled, and you can check that out in the embed above.
The story Baker crafted for this film has the following synopsis: Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora is an audacious, thrilling, and comedic variation on a modern day Cinderella story. Mikey Madison captivates as Ani, a young sex worker from Brooklyn whose life takes an unexpected turn when she meets and impulsively marries Vanya, the impetuous son of a Russian billionaire. However, when Vanya’s parents catch wind of the union, they send their henchmen to annul the marriage, setting off a wild chase through the streets of New York.
Madison is joined in the cast by Mark Eidelstein (The Land of Sasha), Yura Borisov (Compartment No. 6), Vache Tovmasyan (Lost & Found in Armenia), Aleksei Serebryakov (McMafia), Darya Ekamasova (The Americans), Karren Karagulian (Prince of Broadway), Lindsey Normington (All Rise), Ivy Wolk (The Bubble), and newcomer Luna Sofía Miranda.
Baker produced the film with Alex Coco and Samantha Quan. Baker previously directed Four Letter Words, Take Out, Prince of Broadway, Starlet, Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket.
Are you interested in Anora? Take a look at the trailer, then share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below. And if you happened to catch the movie at one of its festival screenings, let us know what you thought of it!