Oscars 2025: The case for Anora to win Best Picture

Of the films nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, none carry the same explosion of personality as Sean Baker’s film about a sex worker, Ani, who elopes with the awkward but charming son of a Russian oligarch. A vivid, empathetic, spiky and tragically comical 139 minutes, Anora feels like the answer to many classic cinema releases from yesteryear, not least the beloved romcom Pretty Woman with its Cinderella story of a sex worker finding love with a rich stranger.

Of course, Anora is a totally different beast, enraptured with its lead heroine and her difficult journey, but is not divorced from realism. In exposing the delusional romantic notions of the Hollywood fairy tale, the practical realities of sex work, and the emptiness of the American Dream, Anora is never less than entertaining and vivid.

Lead Mikey Madison is indeed a revelation as the brash and brittle titular protagonist, feeling natural, loud but totally heartbreaking. Meanwhile, Mark Eydelshteyn is also memorable as her oafish rich-kid love interest Vanya, but Best Supporting Actor nominee Yura Borisov is a magnetic "strong-silent" type as Igor, a henchman with a heart who crosses paths with Ani and offers a real meeting of souls in understated fashion.

Baker’s funny, earnest and expressive film was worthy of its Palme d’Or win at the Cannes Film Festival – and thus certainly worthy of a Best Picture win. It showcases something that feels modern and fresh while demonstrates what cinema can do at its best – to step into the shoes of someone else with a sense of true authenticity. It can’t be said an Anora win here would be particularly groundbreaking, but it would certainly help shape the futures of the remarkable artists involved.

Success for Anora at the Oscars here would be a true sign of mainstream achievement for indie darling Sean Baker after the previous critical successes of Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket, but it would also act as a further announcement of the talent of Madison.

In fact, the nominations alone further solidify Baker’s status as one of America's finest working auteurs and Madison’s ability as a leading lady. Franchise offers surely beckon, but we hope this is an actress that continues to surprise us, particularly after her amusing but unsettling work in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Scream 5.

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Following her BAFTA win, Madison looks primed to be the main competition for Demi Moore to take home the Oscar for Best Actress. While Moore winning would certainly be recognition for both a gasp-worthy turn in The Substance and a lengthy career, Madison winning would truly shoot her career from rising star to arrived A-lister. Sometimes celebrating fresh talent can be even more surprising and earned.

A win for Anora would also be the second Best Picture win for US production and distribution company Neon, which has delivered some of the most exciting cinema in recent years, including Parasite. The main discourse that emerged regarding Baker's film in awards season followed a revelation from Madison on Variety’s Actors on Actors that she and co-star Eydelshteyn declined the offer to use an intimacy coordinator on set for sex scenes. But regardless of opinions on what should be the norm, focus should remain on the insistence from those involved that they always felt comfortable – meaning this controversy should not hinder any award potential.

Ultimately, Anora might not be a Best Picture Oscar-winner to reinvent the wheel, but that doesn’t mean it's not deserving thanks to evocative and empathetic filmmaking with a revelatory lead performance.

The Academy Awards will take place on Sunday 2nd March.

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