Review: ‘Anora’ — Sean Baker’s Cinderella Story Goes Wonderfully Awry
Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner is funny, bleak and excellently made
I remember the exact moment when I first came into contact with the films of Sean Baker, which is more than I can say for most of my favourite directors of all time. I couldn’t tell you much about my first time encountering John Cassavetes’ films, or Robert Bresson’s work (the films were A Woman Under the Influence and A Man Escaped, respectively, I just can’t remember the actual viewing experiences much at all!), but I don’t think I will ever forget going to see The Florida Project in late 2017. It’s a funny story, really. I was 15 at the time, starting to really dig into more independent films, world cinema and classics, being a little pretentious most likely and going to the cinema consistently to see that year’s many fantastic dramas — The Florida Project, Call Me By Your Name, You Were Never Really Here, Detroit, Phantom Thread, etc. It was a great year for cinema in which my only major frustration was not having the Safdie brothers’ Good Time show anywhere accessible to me, something I made up for by watching it a staggering 40+ times within 6 months of its home release… I can’t imagine having the oddball stamina for that anymore!
