Film Review – Anora

Writer/director Sean Baker enjoys exploring the grittier side of life, often focusing on forgotten members of society as they struggle in the shadows. He experienced a breakthrough with 2015’s “Tangerine,” won a larger audience with 2017’s “The Florida Project,” and took a bit of a career hit after 2021’s little-seen “Red Rocket.” Baker returns to his fixations in “Anora,” which reunites the helmer with the plight of a sex worker stuck in a heightened situation beyond their control. The material aims to offer a comedic understanding of bad decisions and faux bonds, following the eponymous character as she’s caught in the middle of a troubling reality while coming into contact with an unexpected relationship. “Anora” is 80 minutes of yelling matches, behavioral excess, and games of intimidation, but Baker elects to turn thin material into a 139-minute-long understanding of heartache. It doesn’t take long for this movie to start spinning its wheels. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com