Love Me Tender – Sex and Vulnerability in Anora

------------------------------------FULL SPOILERS FOR ANORA – GO WATCH IT------------------------------------

Anora isn’t short on sex, drugs, debauchery, and all-round chaos. Mikey Madison’s truly daring performance sees her bare all as the titular heroine in director Sean Baker’s latest film.

The narrative follows Ani, a New York-based stripper and escort, who scores big when she lands high-class client and eventual husband, Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), who she affectionately calls Vanya.

Much of the whirlwind first act follows Ani’s life around a seedy industry and her uphill rollercoaster of a relationship with Ivan, which culminates in their impromptu Las Vegas marriage. This opening chunk of the film also features A LOT of sex – sudden interludes in which Ani performs her primary service for her hopelessly immature client.

However, these sex scenes are notably unsexy, for lack of a better term. Often shot from a distance and abruptly edited into the narrative, these brief sequences are cold in presentation and concerned purely with the physical – while certainly not pornography, the sentiments these scenes covey are as materialistic and empty.

These moments serve as blunt reminders of the reality behind Ani and Ivan’s relationship. There’s no real intimacy between the pair, nor is there any between the characters and the audience, thanks to the distant camerawork.

In a word, these stark intervals are passionless.

At first, none of this is particularly noteworthy. After all, Ani operates in a world where sex is transactional. These bawdy cutaways are simply business as usual for our protagonist, echoing the repetitive routine she follows during the opening scene’s lap-dance montage.

However, Baker’s presentation of sex takes on a different meaning once considered in the context of the film’s surprising climax.

Once Ani and Ivan’s impulsive marriage becomes known to the latter’s oligarch parents, a trio of Russian strong-arms are sent to force an annulment. One of these goons is Igor (Yura Borisov), an unassuming, throwaway muscle-man who initially serves as welcome comic relief.

As the plot advances, though, it becomes clear that Igor has a more significant role to play. He lurks in the background of affairs, out of place in that he’s the only character who seems at all sympathetic and understanding towards Ani and her situation.

For as friendly and apologetic Igor is towards the stripper, Ani, quite understandably, doesn’t let her guard down. After all, he did barge into her newfound home and uproot her fortunate, if not farcical, new life of luxury. She insults him, accuses him, and dismisses all conversation – all the while, Igor takes it in his stride.

You’re waiting for him to snap, for his patience to run thin, and for him to explode at Ani the same way everyone else eventually does. She is quite the handful.

But he doesn’t. And it’s weird.

It’s weird for us, the viewers, who have become accustomed to Ani’s company and the type of people she deals with, and it’s weird for Ani too, who, in moments, appears caught off guard by the henchman’s genuine concern and kindness.

Most notably, during a cold walk along the beach, Igor offers Ani a scarf, which he’d brought along on the off-chance that she got cold. She scolds and rejects him at first, but later accepts the gesture, albeit reluctantly.

Once it becomes clear that Ani and Ivan are done, Igor is the only person who stands up for her, suggesting to his indifferent employers that the girl is owed an apology. This is scoffed at, of course, and Ani handles things in her own way, mouthing off until the last minute, insisting on having the final word.

As we move into the final act, it becomes clear that Igor is no mere throwaway stooge, as he escorts Ani back to Ivan’s mansion to pack her things and spend one final night. The pair have an uncharacteristically calm conversation, and again, the Russian surprises her with his frankness and honesty.

He likes the name Anora. He has no intention of assaulting her. He just wants to show support.

Ani pushes back, refusing to open up, her justifiably hard exterior refusing to accept that this man is what he says he is at face value.

Everything culminates in an emotionally raw, upsetting, and yet undeniably cathartic scene in Igor’s car…or, more specifically, his grandmother’s.

He’s kept hold of Ani’s engagement ring, an expensive one at that, to give to her for a keepsake.

Taken aback at first, she reacts to this gesture in the only way that we’ve seen her repay men throughout the film, by mounting him and unbuckling his trousers.

She moves the transfixed Igor’s hands over her body, but he pulls them away after a moment, slowly reaching for her face, looking to pull her in for a kiss.

It’s in this moment that Ani rebukes. She pulls away and starts to hit Igor, but it’s too late because her mask has slipped.

This final sort-of sex scene features something not found in any of the film’s others: intimacy.

Ani’s put on a brave face until now, like you assume she’s always done, but in these final moments, she’s faced with genuine affection and real intimacy, feeling true vulnerability as a consequence. All her pent-up feelings of anger and sadness explode in one go as she breaks down in tears and lies on Igor’s chest.

And he holds her. And she feels held.

I really believe that Anora’s success as a film hinges on this climax. Unlike the preceding 130 minutes, everything slows down, the camera is close-up on our characters, and you’re given the time to really feel the scene unfold.

The wild ride that’s come before, for as entertaining as it is, doesn’t match up to the emotional weight of these final moments as we see Ani reel and begin to recover from the horrible ordeal she’s been put through.

It’s through this scene that the film demonstrates the difference between sex and intimacy, as the emotionally empty luxury rooms of Ivan’s mansion are replaced with the inviting interiors of Igor’s grandmother’s car, a safe space in which Ani is allowed to feel vulnerable.