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On this page: ANORA | HARD TRUTHS

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 16.Oct.24

Anora MUST SEE
Review by Rich Cline | 4/5

dir-scr Sean Baker
prd Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan
with Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Darya Ekamasova, Aleksey Serebryakov, Anton Bitter, Ivy Wolk, Luna Sofia Miranda, Vlad Mamai, Artyom Trubnikov
release US 18.Oct.24,
UK 1.Nov.24
24/US 2h19

CANNES FILM FEST
TORONTO FILM FEST

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Like a sparkier, more realistic Pretty Woman, this romantic comedy follows a sex worker who falls for a wealthy client. Then it begins to spiral into an engagingly buoyant series of intense encounters that reveal several more layers lurking within the plot. So even if it meanders in its overlong middle section, this comical drama is staggeringly well-constructed by filmmaker Sean Baker and populated by unusually naturalistic actors.

In a New York gentleman's club, lap dancer Ani (Madison) meets wealthy 21-year-old Russian student Vanya (Eydelshteyn), who hires her as his girlfriend for a week. Partying with his friends, they take a raucous Las Vegas getaway, and the now loved-up couple decide to get married. Back in New York, Vanya's horrified godfather Toros (Karagulian) notifies his parents (Ekamasova and Serebryakov), who fire up their private jet. Toros also assigns his goon Garnick (Tovmasyan) and his assistant Igor (Borisov) to keep an eye on Vanya and Ani. But this proves to be a real challenge.

Even as the story hits the usual beats of a romcom, the film's freewheeling narrative keeps us guessing what might happen next, as scenes spill into each other in wildly unexpected ways. And through even the most nail-biting moments, Baker maintains an edgy sense of humour, continually hinting at nuanced details in the characters to make each person on-screen unusually complex and likeable as they engage in a series of power plays. And performances are properly full-bodied.

In the title role, Madison is a blistering force of nature, a young woman who doesn't accept abuse from anyone. Her quick thinking continually turns situations on end, and yet there's a yearning quality underneath her bravado. This gives her chemistry with Eydelshteyn's blithely entitled good-time boy a real kick: we vividly feel their mutual affection. Karagulian and Tovmasyan are terrific as Vanya's Armenian minders, while Borisov adds revelatory textures in his quietly evolving role as the observant Igor.

Refreshingly, Baker keeps even the most outrageous scene grounded in honesty, which gives the film a blast of energy, never flinching from Ani's pole-dancing expertise or Vanya's sex-and-drugs lifestyle. This allows the characters to become much more than they would ever be in a studio-made movie, offering more powerful resonance even in heart-stopping sequences like Garnick and Igor's expertly staged initial confrontation with Ani. As a result, the film becomes an especially involving exploration of the quest for love and identity.

themes, language, violence, sexuality 10.Oct.24

Hard Truths
Review by Rich Cline | 4/5

dir-scr Mike Leigh
prd Georgina Lowe
with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett, Ani Nelson, Sophia Brown, Jonathan Livingstone, Bryony Miller, Tiwa Lade, Elliot Edusah, Llewella Gideon, Hiral Varsani
release US 10.Jan.24,
UK 31.Jan.24
24/UK Film4 1h37

TORONTO FILM FEST

Is it streaming?

Astutely getting under the skin of a complex family dynamic, Mike Leigh deploys his improvisational approach to create a remarkably involving comedy-drama that refuses to follow storytelling rules. And an especially gifted cast brings characters to vivid life without flinching. This is an unusually sharp film that digs deeply into its central character, a woman who is bursting with emotion simply because she doesn't want to face her truth.

Everyone knows to give Pansy (Jean-Baptiste) a wide berth, because she speaks in rambling, furious rants, lashing out at her husband Curtley (Webber), sister Chantelle (Austin) and 22-year-old son Moses (Barrett), who is perhaps understandably adrift in life. She also regularly lets strangers feel her cantankerous frustration about pretty much everything that is happening around her. Then as Mother's Day approaches, Pansy begins to think about her own mother, and she begins to consider her choices and home situation in a new way. But nobody can figure out what's got into her.

Watching Pansy lay into one person after another is painful, because it so clearly reveals a woman who is profoundly hurting. But the source of her bitterness can't be easily explained, as most movies would do. Instead, Leigh and his cast allow details to emerge organically through the interaction, which plays out in low-key scenes that continually offer insight into the connections and barriers that exist within this family. Most fascinating is the unusual bond between these sisters, which extends to Moses and Chantelle's sparky daughters (Nelson and Brown).

Jean-Baptiste is electrical on-screen, a nonstop flurry of vitriol that's both exhausting to watch and eerily heartfelt. Many of her targets are causes of everyday aggravation that anyone in the audience can readily identify with, but Pansy's relentlessly harsh reactions expose her underlying thoughts and feelings. This trickles into her beautifully played interaction with Austin, Webber, Barrett and others, so each character emerges as a person with vivid agency all their own.

There isn't much of a narrative here, as the film is tracing Pansy's internal journey without any obvious signposts. There are no contrived events or melodramatic encounters, even though the emotions remain fairly high throughout. It's in Leigh's sensitive direction and Jean-Baptiste's layered performance that the story emerges, refreshingly resisting the usual pressure to resolve everything in a neat and tidy way. Instead the film leaves us with a lot to chew on.

themes, language 12.Oct.24

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL