it’s really sad to me that a character driven piece about a woman fails to make a real character out of her. we do not see anora’s desires or emotions outside of a punchline or even outside of her husband who she met the week before. as someone who has actually done sex work (in nyc) before, i was deeply disappointed in baker’s treatment of anora. in the film, the distinction between anora’s work and personal lives is blurred to the point where it’s nonexistent. i believe this is where the majority of my problems with the film arise. the only thing she really wants in this film is to find her husband and stay with him. the way it’s presented were led to believe that she actually loves him. of course, as a person i’d say she probably just fell in love with the chance at a better life but as an audience member that’s not driven home. the way the film goes it’s treated like she actually loves him or believes that he actually loves her. her whole life becomes him for the entirety of the film. her interests are rarely put first and never even explored. she wants to stay married but the film doesn’t do a good job of painting why. it almost feels stockholm syndrome-y how much she begs to stay in a relationship (that never felt real and) that she’s been severely mistreated in. without any knowledge of her life before or outside of vanya, it’s hard to say. i’d like to say she fell in love with the fairytale, but their escapades together are not dreamy or romantic. she laughs at his lack of experience/skills in the bedroom. the only thing we see them do together is do drugs and have sex. he does his hobbies. she has none. there is no physical pleasure for anora— nor acknowledgment of the disparity of pleasure in their relationship. as an audience member, i’m assuming she’s ignoring it and just going along with it to secure her check until the second act begins. why does anora believe vanya will come back for her? why doesn’t anora take him putting her safety at risk personally or seriously? once again, the emotions behind the actions are not explored. she acts solely on the desire to be reunited with her husband again but there’s nothing internally shown for it. even at the end of the film, when she finds out vanya cheated on her there’s no reasoning given as to why she continues to put up with vanya humiliating her (quite literally begging for him to stay with her). something that seems so out of character for her. this is where i think the addition of anora’s own personal life would’ve deeply benefited the film. a part from seeing anora get annoyed with her sister, we have no idea what she wants / why she can’t or doesn’t want to go home. if the film painted her internal struggle before or even during her marriage, then her actions wouldn’t seem so arbitrary. before we meet vanya, the film establishes anora as successful. thus, the financial tension of getting divorced isn’t really there for me. other than showing that this work exhausts anora, the film doesn’t really explore what anora is losing by getting divorced (thus the reason why she wants to stay together isn’t ever present). there’s no parallels painted between anora’s new life and old one. her empty begging almost feels like she doesn’t have a life outside of this. even if her life’s desire is to just relax and live in luxury, that is never expressed. anora’s character motivations are almost nonexistent past wanting to stay with vanya. it’s extremely one note. all of her motivations are external. we do not see her internal struggle whatsoever. it isn’t until the last scene when we see her true emotions, but due to the lack of setting anora up as a human being, it falls short. there’s no thread to follow for what’s going on in her head. it’s a powerful ending scene that honestly feels slapped on and lackluster. and this is coming from someone who has lived her life. if the film  explored her internal struggle, then i’d be able to actually glean what motivates her actions. currently, all i can do is make assumptions based on my life and experiences— not from the story or character. right now, the ending just seems like its purpose is to at best (and most hopeful) leave the audience thinking about the realities of sex work, consent and its affects on the person behind the job or at its worst, just for shock factor. without developing anora as a human being, the film is flat. i can name what every single man wants externally and internally but for the main character, only her external desires are presented. somehow anora is the least humanized character in a film that is supposedly about her. also wayyy too many rape jokes for me to believe this film actually gives a fuck about sex workers. i mean the fact that baker fails to develop the lead character in favor for the men around her kinda leads me to believe this film is pandering on levels i haven’t seen before. edit: i find it so funny that men r the only ones losing their minds over this review. either do some self reflection as to why my review (that i wrote for myself btw) made you so mad/defensive or fuck off. name calling random strangers on letterboxd for having opinions other than your own is just pathetic. idgaf if you like this film. you shouldn’t care that i don’t. and to all the men that think they’re slick by hiding their hate under useless critiques of how i type, i hope you know i didn’t paragraph break here just for you! isn’t that fun? writers can write however they want and whether or not you want to continue reading is up to you!