A very good movie

It was my turn this time to pick up a movie for my film club and, this time, I did struggle a bit (this movie was only my 4th option) but, since this movie did receive some stellar reviews (it even won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival), I thought we could check it out. Well, I was eventually really glad because I really enjoyed the damned thing after all. I have to admit that I was expecting more romance maybe because I’m a romantic and even though the outcome was predictable, I hoped that Anora and Ivan would enjoy their relationship for a bit longer (seriously, I think it did last for maybe 5 mins). I noticed that the rest of the film club didn’t care much for how seedy this strip-club life was but I don’t think that Sean Baker, the director, was interested in delivering a cautionary tale about this world. Basically, guys go to such places and girls work there, that’s how it is and how it will always be. In fact, I think he was more interested to display that this Russian oligarch family was actually just as messed up (maybe even more) than all these girls working as strippers. Concerning Anora, sure, it might seem sad but I think she just gambled but what did she have to loose? The big difference with Ivan was that he actually never cared for her after all but, even if he has all the money in the world, it’s not so sure that he will ever find happiness if he keeps on going like this. At least, even if you might not care for this movie, you can’t deny that Mikey Madison gave such a strong performance here. I’m also really glad that they took the piss at ‘Pretty Woman’ and delivered an actually really good story about a sex-worker falling in love with some rich dude. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved this movie and I think it’s definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Sean Baker’s work. 

8/10