Tenty-five-year old Anora (Mikey Madison) works as a pole dancer and occasional hooker in a strip joint somewhere on Long Island (New York), near the upper-class district of Brightwaters. This is where she meet 21-year-old Ivan, the selfish and reckless son of a Russian oligarch. He splashes out money with the casualness of a child sucking a lollipop. He’s insolent and puerile. He takes Anora (who prefers to be called “Ani”) to his majestic mansion overlooking the Atlantic Sea. She performs a private dance for him, and he offers her U$10,000 to spend the week together. She demands U$15,000 instead. Vanya (the Russian nickname for “Ivan”) replies: “I would have offered you $30k if you had settled for $10k”, thereby establishing that the power relations are entirely pecuniary. Money and sex are the de facto currency.

They have intercourse in just about every room of the house, with a lewd Ivan insisting that she twists and twerks exclusively for him. The young woman has advanced contortionist skills, proudly showcasing her best gynaecological moves. Ivan impresses Ani further by asking that she googles his father’s name, Nikilai Sakharov. Her face upon seeing the search results suggests that she hit gold (a real-life Google search for such name reveals a Soviet serial killer, reminding internet-savvy audiences that this is an entirely fictional affair).

Just a week later, Vanya takes Ani to Las Vegas, where they get secretly married. Vanya buys his wife a four-carat wedding ring. Then they return to Vanya’s mansion, and briefly enjoy the life of husband and wife, namely for a few days. One morning, two Armenian thugs (gopniks) storm into the house and demand to see their marriage certificate. They are the clumsy Garnick (Vache Topvmasyan), and the quiet Igor (Yura Borisov, the prolific Russian actor from Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov’s Captain Volkonogov Escaped, 2021) and Yuho Kuosmanen’s Compartment N. 6, 2022). Ivan comes in his wife’s defence. They are soon joined by the uncommitted priest Toros (Karren Karagulian), who abandons a baptism mid-ceremony in order to attend the house. The three man work for Ivan’s parents, who live in Russia. Fierce Ani screams and wails uncontrollably, threatening to call the police. Violence and insults of all sorts erupt, with Garnock ending up with a broken nose, Igor having to tie and restrain Ani her in a beyond suggestive position, and half of the expensive furniture in the lounge being smashed into pieces. An all-out class war unfolds. The dirty battle of the filthy rich versus the vicious poor.

Ivan snaps once he finds out that his parents are on their way from Russia in order to sort the mess. He simply vanishes, leaving the four people (Ani, Toos, Igor and Garnick) scrambling desperately in order to locate him. They attend the candy stores, restaurants and just about every night club in town in search of the careless and unpredictable little brat. Ani insists that they are truly infatuated with each other, turning down various money offers to annul the whirlwind marriage. The fast-paced action is both hilarious and engaging, with the unrelenting energy, witty dialogues and skilful editing of Uncut Gems (Safdie Brother, 2019) – just a lot dirtier.

Once again, Sean baker subverts the American dream by placing the rich and traditional right next to marginalised Americans. This time he does one step further by throwing Russian culture into the picture. In Tangerine (2015), he inserts trannies a the heart of the American family on Christmas day, while impoverished single mothers experience a lacklustre existence right next to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, in The Florida project (2017). Structurally, Anora has many similarities with Tangerine: both films have sex workers in the lead role, abundant cat fights, a tour of the urban underworld (of West Hollywood and Long Island), feral and yet adorable characters fighting for their dignity by all means available to them, and a crucial touch of empathy. A small present becomes a token of solidarity, at the moving final scene of both films. Our allegiance lies with the marginalised characters, filthy, horny and greedy as they may be. The rich are just vulgar, but not necessarily evil. Baker neither victimises nor asks us to pity his rogue heroes. Just like the trannies of Tangerine, Ani is unabashed of her lifestyle choices. She is a magnificent human being worthy of our respect.

Anora showed in the Official Competition of the 77th Cannes International Film Festival, when this piece was originally written. It won the Palme d’Or (the event’s top prize). The UK premiere takes place at the BFI London Film Festival, and also at the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. In cinemas on Friday, November 2nd. A hilarious and engaging comedy with just the right touch of humanism.