‘Anora’: Everything To Know About Mikey Madison’s Star-Making Movie From Neon

The last five Palme d’Or winners at the Cannes Film Festival have gone to Neon movies: Parasite (which also won Best Picture at the Oscars), Titane , Triangle of Sadness , Anatomy of a Fall , and most recently, Anora .

The film has been praised by critics for its remarkable performance from Mikey Madison, who you know from FX’s Better Things and as one of the Manson Family followers in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , and writer and director Sean Baker’s funny-yet-earnest script. (This should not be a surprise to anyone who has seen his other movies, like Tangerine , The Florida Project , and Red Rocket .)

Here’s everything to know about Anora , one of the must-see films of the fall, including plot details and when it’s coming to theaters.

Plot

Let’s begin with the official plot synopsis, courtesy of Neon: “Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.” Based on the trailer , you will be charmed.

Mikey Madison was offered the lead role as Anora without even auditioning. That’s how much Sean Baker loved her performances in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Scream . “I said ‘yes’ even before I read the script,” she told The Cut . “I knew whatever he created was something I would want to be a part of.” Her preparation to play Anora included talking to “multiple consultants, sex workers, read memoirs, anything that I could do. I went to strip clubs and watched women in Los Angeles… That sounds creepy.”

Sex work is a common theme in Baker’s films, and Anora is no exception. “There’s a million stories to be told in the world of sex workers… It’s livelihood, it’s a career, it’s a job and it’s one that should be respected,” he shared to The Hollywood Reporter . “In my opinion, it should be decriminalized and not in any way regulated because it is a sex worker’s body and it is up to them to decide how they will use it in their livelihood.”

Cast

Outside of Mikey Madison, Anora also stars Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Aleksei Serebryakov.

Eydelshteyn, the 22-year-old actor who plays Ivan, the son of a Russian oligarch who impulsively marries Anora, has apparently been dubbed the “Russian Timothée Chalamet” ( I can see it ). “For me, it’s a mind-blowing situation, because in Russian people are saying I’m a Russian Timothée Chalamet and now you’re saying it in English. It’s crazy, it’s like a joke that has gone out of control,” he told Variety about the comparison. “It did become a little annoying, but then I watched Dune , and now I think he’s probably one of the best actors of my generation. Him and Barry Keoghan.”

Release Date

Anora hits theaters on October 18, the same weekend as Flight Risk . Please go see Anora instead of the Mel Gibson movie.

Trailer

Below, you can find the trailer for Anora .