'Anora' movie review: Mikey Madison comes into her own with saucy Cinderella story

Gen Z gets its own “Pretty Woman” with the bittersweet fable “Anora,” about a sex worker who discovers finding her golden ticket isn’t all that.

Director Sean Baker’s film (★★★ out of four; rated R; in theaters now), winner of the Cannes Film festival's top prize, is a tragicomedy with a screwball center – and likely 2024's only best picture contender that opens with bare breasts and lap dances aplenty. The storytelling is entertainingly confident but tonally dissonant, though Baker stirs a host of strong performances for his disparate characters, especially Mikey Madison as the sassy Cinderella of this story and Yura Borisov as an endearing henchman.

Madison stars as Ani, a 23-year-old erotic dancer who works at a Manhattan gentlemen’s club, hates her given name Anora and happens to know Russian thanks to her grandma, who refused to learn English. Ani’s tapped by her boss to pay special attention to Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the mercurial, excitable son of a wealthy Russian oligarch (Aleksey Serebryakov).

Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.

They hit it off, Vanya pays her extra to hang out at his palatial mansion in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach – much better digs than Ani shares with her sister – and there’s lots of sex, twerking and Vanya playing video games in between. Vanya wants to be “exclusive” with Ani, so he gives her $15,000 to spend the week with him, which includes a trip to Las Vegas. He mentions off the cuff that if they got married, Vanya could get a green card and wouldn’t have to return to Russia to work for his dad, so they elope and marry in a chapel.

The romantic drama turns absurd when they get home: News of Vanya marrying a “prostitute” reaches his dismayed parents, who get on the next flight to America. Meanwhile, Vanya’s Armenian handler Toros (Karren Karagulian), the stressed-out guy who cleans up Vanya’s many messes, and his goons Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Borisov) are tasked with keeping everything copacetic until mom and dad arrive. They show up, Vanya bolts, Ani freaks out and a desperate chase full of assorted chaos ensues, from candy-store smashing on Coney Island to stripper fights in New York nightspots.

Like Baker’s other indie films, including the trans sex-worker drama “Tangerine” and porn-star comedy “Red Rocket,” “Anora” continues an admirable sex-positive streak and pays respect to industries that most mainstream movies won’t touch. The narrative will give you whiplash, however, as it wildly veers from predictable love story to “one wild night” antics to a thoughtful final act with an emotional ending that feels earned, despite the earlier muddle.

The same could be said of Ani herself. Madison, who impressed in small roles in the “Scream” reboot as well as “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” comes into her own as a foul-mouthed force of nature who lacks important self-awareness at first – Vanya is like a bag full of red flags when it comes to being husband material – yet harnesses her inner strength later, especially when facing off with Vanya’s imperious mom (Darya Ekamasova).

The movie’s middle section leans messy, yet it’s also where the best character stuff happens, as Toros, Garnick and Igor gradually become Ani’s most fervent protectors and kind of a weird family as they search for the elusive Vanya. The quiet, hoodie-clad Igor shows her kindness under duress, and Borisov superbly fills what’s easily a hollow, throwaway persona with genuine feelings and a wry sense of humor. Pay attention, Oscar voters: Igor is easily one of the year’s most fascinating supporting personalities.

“Anora” isn’t a fairy tale that plays by the rules of Prince Charmings and happy endings. Instead, it thankfully explores something more real: people just trying to get through the day with some sense of hope and human connection.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Anora' review: Mikey Madison headlines a Gen Z 'Pretty Woman'