Sex, lies and endless nights

Sean Baker's Anora explodes onto the screen like a firecracker in a mid-night alleyway—it's a restless, breathless ride, a film straddling so many genres and refusing to be tamed.

- RAJA SEN

Baker slams together unlikely romance, riotous comedy, and a relentless Uncut Gems-esque nocturnal adventure, eventually taking us to heart-wrenching drama. It's a rush, and it left me both exhilarated and haunted. Anora, my pick for Best Picture at this year's Oscars, can now be watched in India on BookMyShow Stream.

At the heart of this odyssey is Mikey Madison, whose performance as the titular stripper shimmers with dangerous, luminous intensity. Madison is nothing short of electrifying—every syllable, every glance, every tossed hip, every defiant head-tilt declares, "I am in control, I own my choices, and I will not be diminished." Her Brooklyn accent, at first a perplexing jumble of gritty local slang and unexpected lyrical cadence, is revealed to be a mask—its fluctuations a deliberate, artful strategy. In moments of high tension, the accent sharpens into a harsh, unyielding rasp that not only signals the pressure of the moment but also betrays the intricate double life Anora leads: a woman caught between the rough, unpolished streets of lower-class Brooklyn and the polished, high-stakes corridors of Manhattan's elite.