Cinema enthusiasts can now enjoy the acclaimed thriller that clinched the title of 2024’s best film.
Directed by Sean Baker, Anora is a darkly comedic masterpiece that swept up five Oscars at the 97th Academy Awards, including the prestigious Best Picture prize.
The film impressed the Academy and garnered rave reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, earning an impressive 93 percent from critics and an 84 percent rating from general viewers.
Now available on Sky Cinema, this much-lauded film centres on Ani (Mikey Madison), a young Brooklyn-based stripper who believes she’s hit the jackpot when she weds Vanya, the son of a Russian billionaire.
However, when word of their union reaches Russia, Vanya’s parents dispatch their henchmen to America to end the marriage, triggering a wild chase across New York City, reports Surrey Live.
Upon its debut, Anora’s leading lady, Madison, received high praise for her portrayal and subsequently bagged the Best Leading Actress Oscar.
The film also scooped up awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Director for Sean Baker.
Audiences were particularly taken aback by the thriller’s unexpected ending, with many confessing that it moved them to tears.
“The film’s ending had me in tears (I don’t cry easily in films, it is one of the few films which just left me speechless at the end),” wrote one IMDb user.
One viewer looked back on the final scenes, noting: “It’s the kind of ending that makes you want to go back immediately and watch the movie again to see how your impressions of everything leading up to that ending might change.”
Another observer shared a similar sentiment: “Rather than an ending that wraps things up nicely in a pretty little bow, it’s an ending that unties the bow, and opens the box, and leaves you with the RAW reality of it all.
“I was a bit in awe taking in the very specific energy of the packed room as the silent credits hit and people very slowly began making their way (very quietly) out of the auditorium.”
On X, formerly Twitter, a different user admitted: “Didn’t expect the ending of Anora to make me cry the way it did.”
Anora is available to stream now on Sky Cinema.