"Anora" review: Sean Baker's sex work fairy tale isn't what you expect
“Anora,” 2023, directed by Sean Baker ★★★★ ½ If Sean Baker’s oeuvre is seen as a large-scale examination of class divides and how they present themselves in sex work, as seen in 2021’s "Red Rocket" and his 2015 debut "Tangerine", then it would appear that his newest, the snappy, brazen, and emotionally sweeping Anora, is his magnum opus. Although it only takes place over the course of two short weeks, its relentless effusivity, humor and bittersweet self-awareness make “Anora” feel like a classical epic. Some may find the emotional whiplash of its peaks and valleys hard to swallow, but its psychological adhesiveness will leave few wondering why it snagged the Palme D’or at the Cannes film festival earlier this year. Anora, or “Ani” as she prefers to be called (a fiery, spellbinding Mikey Madison), is a Russian-speaking stripper at an upscale Manhattan club. Thanks to her second language, she finds herself in a private room with Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov, the fresh-faced