Director Sean Baker has been behind some of the more interesting indie films in the past with movies like The Flordia Project and Red Rocket, and now he’s teamed up with Neon for the release of his next movie Anora.
Anora premiered at the recent Cannes Film Festival with a lot of people singing its praises, but everyone thinks that it could propel star Mikey Madison to the A-list.
Mikey Madison in Sean Baker’s Anora
When it comes a filmmaker like Sean Baker, he definitely has an interesting angle when it comes to his grounded films, and his genre has usually been referred to as dramedies, and Anora isn’t any different.
Here’s the trailer for the film:
The description for the movie reads:
“Sean Baker's Palme d'Or winner ANORA is an audacious, thrilling, and comedic variation on a modern day Cinderella story. Mikey Madison (ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD) captivates as Ani, a young sex worker from Brooklyn whose life takes an unexpected turn when she meets and impulsively marries Vanya, the impetuous son of a Russian billionaire. However, when Vanya's parents catch wind of the union, they send their henchmen to annul the marriage, setting off a wild chase through the streets of New York.”
With movies like Tangerine, Red Rocket, and now Anora, it also does seem like Baker does have a penchant for sex worker characters, and they’re humanized in a very interesting way that a lot of movies and TV don’t portray usually.
Early Reactions to Anora
Though Anora has only been able to be screened in a limited capacity, the movie did win at Cannes, and a lot of early reactions have been doing nothing but praise for Madison, with some even hoping that her role in the movie could win her an Oscar. Here are some posts online:
With a release set for this month, and the buzz surrounding Madison, cinephiles are all watching eagerly to see just how her star will rise once the movie reaches general audiences.
Where Have People Seen Madison Before?
Another huge reason why people are also obsessed with the rise of Mikey Madison is that she’s always managed to knock out some interesting supporting roles in her past movies. She had played one of the key parts in the second to the last Scream movie, but before that, she was also one of the Manson girls who Brad Pitt roughs up in the end of Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood.
Check her out here:
Madison particularly stands out in OUATIH since she’s clearly the leader of the party who shouts orders at everyone, and she’s also the one to die the most horrific death with Leonardo DiCaprio setting her on fire in the swimming pool.
It’s interesting that Madison was also in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as several supporting actors in that film have since risen to A-list status. Stars like Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: Part Two), Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, Anyone But You), Maya Hawke (Stranger Things, Inside Out 2), and Margaret Qualley (Kinds of Kindness, The Substance) were all side characters in OUATIH before hitting their big breaks. Now it looks like it’s going to be Madison’s turn.
Watch out for Anora when it comes to cinemas on Oct. 18.