Anora ending explained: What happens between Anora and Igor?
Sean Baker's latest film is being positioned as a major awards contender – here's a breakdown as to what happens in the impactful final scenes.
(**WARNING: Contains spoilers for Anora**)
With films such as Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket, Sean Baker has established himself as one of the most interesting American directors currently working – and his latest film Anora is perhaps his best work yet.
The film – which won the coveted Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival and is now being positioned as a major Oscars contender – centres on a terrific performance by Mikey Madison as the titular character, a stripper whose life changes drastically when she impulsively marries Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch who had hired her to be his girlfriend for the week.
But this is anything but a fairy tale romance, and when Vanya's family in Russia catch wind of the union, they send a trio of local goons to iron out the situation, with their objective to annul the marriage as soon as possible.
Vanya soon goes on the lam, leaving Anora in the custody of his family's enforcers as they try to hunt him down before his parents arrive on a private flight – with plenty of screwball shenanigans ensuing as the chase spirals out of control.
Eventually, it all leads to an impactful moment after a previously supporting character takes centres stage in the final stretch – read on for everything you need to know about the final scenes of Anora and what they mean.
Anora ending explained: What happens between Anora and Igor?
After Anora and the trio of goons – Toros, Garnick and Igor – are successful in tracking Vanya down, it doesn't take long before his parents arrive on the scene, with his fearsome mother displaying particular hostility towards Anora.
Despite Anora's initial objections, the annulment ends up going through in Las Vegas, and she comes to see Vanya for what he really is – an immature child who never really loved her in any meaningful way.
Igor is then asked to take her back to New York to collect her belongings from Vanya's family mansion, and it's at this point that the tone and direction of the drama slightly changes.
The pair of them spend the night in the mansion, and although Anora is at first reluctant to engage Igor in conversation, they begin to find a connection and show signs of opening up to each other, including Igor explaining that the previous day – which they'd spent desperately looking for Vanya – had been his birthday.
She also shows signs of softening towards him when she provides him with a blanket as he sleeps on the couch.
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When morning comes, he drives her back to her house and gives her the money she'd been promised, but also decides to give back the valuable wedding ring Vanya had proposed with (which they had previously taken off her). She is clearly grateful for this gesture, and responds by beginning to give him a lap dance and appearing to initiate sex.
However, when he tries to kiss her, she resists and briefly begins to hit him. She then breaks down in tears and collapses into his arms as he consoles her.
This is the first time we've seen her let her guard down and become emotionally vulnerable in the film, and she begins to show the toll that events of the past few days have taken on her while she's been putting on a brave face.
It's also notable that Igor is pretty much the only person in the film who has treated her in way that isn't entirely transactional – he does seem to genuinely care about her and respect her, as has been made clear by his expressions in the background throughout the film.
It's his act of kindness that allows her to finally open up and be emotionally bare, while it also seems that she's a little uneasy about how to perceive a man who isn't interested in her for purely transactional reasons.
So, in truth, it's a complex combination of emotions that cause Anora to break down like this: processing everything she's been through in the last few days, coming to terms with the fact her apparent fairy tale is no more, reacting to the gesture of goodwill by Igor and dealing with someone who actually treats her with a degree of respect.
All these factors combine to create a powerful, bittersweet final moment.
Anora is now showing in UK cinemas.
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