Writer-director Sean Baker won the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. His previous film Red Rocket (2021) was nominated for the Palme d'Or and his film before that, The Florida Project (2017), premiered at the 70th Cannes Film Festival. It wasn't up for the Palme but it did get nominated for an Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards. There are many who believe this film will also get nominations at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards. Some are predicting about a half-dozen nominations, including Best Picture, which would be the first time for Baker.
This is Baker's eighth feature. Baker has made a name for himself over the past decade because his previous four features have all been about sex workers, either strippers who turn to prostitution or porn stars who do X-rated or XXX-rated stuff. A lot of his films have also focused on marginalized communities. His second feature Take Out (2004) was about a Chinese immigrant. His fifth feature Tangerine (2015) centered on transgender women. Tangerine was the film that put him on a lot of people's maps. Baker had already been recognized for his fourth feature Starlet (2012) where he was given a Spirit Award. Tangerine put him more on people's maps because it was uniquely one of the few features to be filmed using an iPhone 5S. However, since The Florida Project, Baker has been shooting on celluloid with this film being shot on 35 mm.
The budget for this film is the highest that Baker has ever had and it shows in a lot of ways. As stated, many of his films have focused on marginalized people or those living on the fringes who are barely scraping by. His films really give voice to impoverished individuals who are struggling financially. Often, his narratives are about depicting them during that struggle, providing a slice of their lives. His films often don't have them achieve any kind of financial success or even financial stability. This film is essentially the same, but, unlike his previous features, this one revels in wealth, opulence and privilege. Arguably, this film is closer to Baker's Starlet in which a young woman comes upon some financial success that is short-lived or a windfall that is found but ultimately is lost or taken away.
Mikey Madison (Scream and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood) stars as Anora Mikheeva, although she prefers to be called "Ani." She's a stripper that works at a Gentleman's club in New York called HQ. She specializes in giving men lap dances that totally titillate them. It's clear in the beginning that stripping is simply a job to her, yet she's really good at it. She's really good at being nice and friendly to men, as well as capturing their attractions. Yet, in any given night, the men are simply pieces on a conveyor belt. She's not opposed to doing things outside of the club. She'll have sex with men for extra money. She has some complaints, but she seems to be doing okay. She lives in a small house next to the Q train in Brighton Beach, which doesn't seem like a wealthy area.
Mark Eidelstein co-stars as Ivan Zakharov, although he prefers to be called "Vanya." He's the son of an extremely wealthy Russian oligarch or businessman. Vanya's parents seem to do most of their business in Russia where they mainly reside, but they do have a mansion in Brooklyn. Vanya decides to spend the New Year's holiday at that mansion, while his parents are still in Russia. Vanya spends most of the time partying, going from nightclub to nightclub. He even hangs out with friends at Coney Island, even during the winter snow. His favorite place is HQ but his English isn't great, so he requires an erotic dancer who can speak his language.
Because Ani grew up in Brighton Beach, which has one of the largest populations of Russian-speaking immigrants, she can at least understand Slavic words. Her grandmother was in fact Russian, so she can even talk a bit in his language. When Vanya invites her to his mansion, she's obviously impressed and wants to revel in his wealth. She does, which means that Baker revels in that wealth too. It's then a lot of sex, drugs and alcohol, but it's also expensive trips to Las Vegas, luxury suites and restaurants, tens of thousands of dollars just thrown around like it's nothing. It's obvious from the first impression that Vanya is a spoiled brat, a white privileged, spoiled brat that doesn't care about anyone or anything beyond his hedonistic desires and of course his wealth.
At first, it seems as if this film will be a Generation Z version of Pretty Woman (1990) because Vanya asks Ani to be his "girlfriend" for the week. He asks her to be exclusive to him, as a sex client. It's clear he's using her as a trophy and sex toy. He even proposes marriage, but it's clear that it's only for opportunistic reasons. He essentially wants a green card, so he can continue living in the United States, not to contribute in any way, but simply to continue partying and quite frankly continue being a wastrel. Ani is young herself and she can't see past the whirlwind romance, which only lasts two weeks. She can't see beyond the wealth bubble into which Vanya pulls her. She does have a moment of clarity where she asks how Vanya is able to afford such luxuries like a mansion, but she doesn't interrogate things further after the marriage proposal. She simply falls into the whirlwind.
As such, this film is about her being caught up in that whirlwind, especially when the reality of the situation hits her. That reality is that Vanya can't afford such luxuries. He's only 21. Unless he's a drug dealer or into gun trafficking, there's no way he can afford all these luxuries that he showers on her. When the person or people who truly control the purse-strings come knocking, all Hell breaks loose with a scramble to undo the marriage. In that, it's a thrillingly comedic scramble that could be fun. However, what sapped the fun out of it is this implication that Ani is fighting for this marriage for reasons that are other than economic.
Baker is suggesting that Ani and Vanya are some kind of love match. At least, Ani's behavior in the latter half of this film hints that she's fighting and screaming for someone she loves. Baker never truly convinced me that this was a love match. If you watched Pretty Woman, Richard Gere who plays the wealthy man who hires a prostitute for the week demonstrates in multiple ways that his character is in love with her. Vanya doesn't demonstrate in any way that he loves Ani. In one scene in the 1990 romantic comedy, Gere's character literally fights for Julia Roberts' character. Here, Vanya literally runs away and ditches Ani. The film could simply be about how this young woman lies to herself or has some kind of naive fantasy in her head. If Pretty Woman was about the fairy-tale coming true, this film is about the fairy-tale turning into a tragedy, the fantasy bubble bursting.
This is ironic, given that Baker's previous two films, Red Rocket and The Florida Project both ended with fantasy sequences where the protagonists imagined better conclusions for themselves or imagined themselves getting the thing for which they were fighting. Here, there's no such sequence. Baker's film could be seen as a shattering of illusions. Ideally, it should be a shattering of illusions of Ani's naked pursuit of wealth or being a sugar baby. Yet, the film doesn't seem to want us to think Ani is a just gold-digger but that she genuinely loves Vanya. Unfortunately, there is practically nothing here that sells that idea. She loves his money not him, but her behavior in the latter half doesn't reflect that reality, which is the only reality that makes sense. As such, it's difficult to connect to a person like her.
Rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language and drug use.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 19 mins.
In theaters.