Critics and awards groups have been raving about Anora. Now you can see what all the fuss is about.
The film, which is expected to compete for multiple Academy Awards, will be available for digital purchase on Tuesday, production company Neon has announced.
Anora follows the title character (played by Mikey Madison), a New York City stripper who begins a whirlwind romance with the son of a Russian oligarch. After knowing each other for a matter of days, they suddenly get married, much to the chagrin of his wealthy and powerful parents. The film was first shown at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d’Or, making it the first American film to claim the grand prize in 13 years.
Cannes turned out to be a sign of good things to come for the film written and directed by Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Red Rocket). Since then, Anora has won Best Picture from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, earned four Gotham Award nominations, six Independent Spirit Award nominations, seven Critics Choice nominations, and five Golden Globe nominations, all of which included a bid for the best film of the year.
According to the combined predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users, Anora is the frontrunner for Best Picture at the Oscars. Madison is also expected to take Best Actress, and Baker is tipped to win Best Original Screenplay. In addition, Baker is a likely nominee for Best Director, while Yura Borisov‘s breakout performance makes him a probable Best Supporting Actor nominee.
At the Golden Globes, the film is expected to win three of its five categories, which happen to match its projected Oscar wins. It’s the favorite to collect Best Film Comedy/Musical, Best Film Comedy/Musical Actress for Madison, and Best Film Screenplay for Baker. The film is also out front in three Critics Choice races: Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.
If our odds are right about its Oscar prospects, Anora would be only the third film to win Cannes’ Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Picture, following Marty (1955) and Parasite (2019). But three of the last four Palme champs did end up with Oscar noms for Best Picture at least (along with Parasite, there were Triangle of Sadness and Anatomy of a Fall). That could be evidence of the Motion Picture Academy becoming more diverse and international as the organization has made efforts to expand its ranks.
It would be quite the come-up for Baker, whose previous films have been totally ignored by the Oscars apart from a lone Best Supporting Actor bid for Florida Project co-star Willem Dafoe. Do you think Anora‘s awards success so far is justified? If you missed it while it was in theaters, you can decide for yourself starting tomorrow at home.
