Sean Baker’s latest film, Anora, has taken the critics at the Cannes Film Festival by storm.
Following a somewhat mediocre collection of reactions at this year’s Cannes Film Competition, one film has finally broken through. Anora, written and directed by Sean Baker, who is best known for The Florida Project and Red Rocket, presented the audience with a tale of class exploitation.
The film follows the titular Anora (Mikey Madison), a stripper from Brooklyn who meets and impulsively marries a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). Trouble brews when the oligarch’s parents travel to New York to annul the marriage.
It’s the type of premise that can garner awards attention and combined with its acclaim, it certainly has a shot at some buzz. The film is being praised for its performances, tension, and ability to combine drama and comedy.
As part of its first screening at the festival, the film received a whopping 10-minute standing ovation and an impressive 3.55/4 average critics rating. This far surpasses every other film at the festival so far, bar Miguel Gomes’ Grand Tour.
In terms of distribution, the film was acquired by FilmNation Entertainment and was sub sold to Le Pacte for France (where Cannes is held), Lev for Israel, Kismet for Australia and New Zealand, and Focus Features for other countries outside of the US. Neon will be distributing the film domestically, following their successes with Ferrari, Anatomy of a Fall, and Perfect Days.
The film comes after Mikey Madison’s wide breakout into Hollywood following Quentin Tarantino’s penultimate film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and 2022’s Scream. Up next for the actress is the Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake, which premieres July 19th.
Find reactions to Sean Baker’s Anora here:
Thanks for reading this article! Stay tuned on Feature First for more articles like this.
