Sean Baker’s ‘Anora’ Captivates Telluride and Generates Oscar Heat for Mikey Madison
variety.comClayton Davis Senior Awards Editor People are falling in love with “Anora.” Sean Baker has made his mark on indie cinema with notable features such as “The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket.” His latest film, “Anora,” a reimagining of “Pretty Woman” that trades Richard Gere’s debonair corporate raider for Mark Eydelshteyn’s sex-crazed son of a Russian oligarch, is his most accessible project yet.
And just as “Pretty Woman” launched Julia Roberts into the stratosphere, Mikey Madison‘s turn as a less glamorous sex worker has made her the year’s breakout performer.
Following its Palme d’Or win at Cannes in May, the film made its U.S. premiere at the Telluride Film Festival to a sold-out crowd.
Its subsequent screenings were turning away approximately 200 people at each, making it one of the hottest tickets at the festival alongside Sony’s “Saturday Night” and Netflix’s “Emilia Perez.” The film follows Anora (Madison), a sex worker from Brooklyn who marries a rich Russian heir (Eidelstein), which makes his shadowy businessman father and his even more terrifying mother very, very unhappy.
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