March 2nd, 6:30pm. 

As I was desperately trying to navigate through Hulu and see at least a snippet of Conan’s opening monologue, Elyse watched on worriedly while Hilary snored away on the chair she always claims as soon as she walks into Elyse and I’s apartment. Finally, I was able to pull up the program on my computer, and we poked Hilary awake, passed around pancakes and began to watch the 2025 Oscars. Although it was admittedly not the most ideal viewing experience, on the tiny screen we were able to watch Anora achieve award after award, a moment in history to be sure. 

“I kinda want to watch Anora now,” Hilary would say multiple times throughout the night. 

“Me too…” said Elyse. (This was an accomplishment, as Elyse doesn’t often choose to watch movies over her myriad of other hobbies.)

By the end of the night, as we were discussing the awards, Hilary said “Now we have to watch Anora.” I agreed, especially because I was eager to view the film through a different light than I had initially watched it. 

I watched Anora before the discourse began to ramp up, which was sometime after an “Actors on Actors” interview, where star Mikey Madison confided in Pamela Anderson that they hadn’t used an intimacy coordinator on the set. The drama continued to snowball, with speculation on director Sean Baker’s intentions with portraying sex work.

 I initially went into the film with no expectations. After my first watch, I left the theater feeling conflicted. The movie had been marketed as a “modern Cinderella story”, or even a “real love story”. I was baffled at how that movie could be construed in any way resembling a love story. To do so, I felt that the character of Ani would have to be reduced to a naive woman without complexity or autonomy. After some time, and after the film’s many Oscar wins, I wanted to rewatch it with a new lens. After doing so, I was satisfied with the plot as well as the wit and resourcefulness of Ani. 

However, this was a bumpy journey full of reading wildly different hot takes and conflicting opinions on Twitter, and so my interest was piqued by the enthusiasm of my friends, who are not part of the fiery side of the film community and as a result hadn’t been exposed to the controversies. The following interview are their unbiased opinions on the movie that has caused almost as much discourse as Emilia Perez. (Just kidding. Not possible). 

April 14, 10:00am.

A: How often do you watch movies?

H: At least a couple times a week.

E: Not very often.

A: What movies are your favorite? What types?

H: I tend to gravitate more towards horror and comedy genre-wise, but for movies, White Chicks, Scream is also one of my favorites too, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before which is my guilty pleasure choice. 

E: Really artistic, emotionally deep films, films with metaphor behind them, or on the opposite side of the spectrum, really stupid films. 

A: Why did you choose to watch the Oscars this year?

H: Because you wanted to *laughs*. 

E: Because this was the first year that I cared. I had friends who watched movies a lot, and I had been keeping up with the Oscars news. 

A: What movies did you know of? 

H: Wicked and Emilia Perez, I knew Dune, I also knew that one Bob Dylan movie, and Conclave.

E: Flow, Emilia Perez, and I actually didn’t know Anora. Nosferatu, The Substance, Dune Part 2, Inside Out 2; although I didn’t watch that one. There might have been a horror movie in there too that I’m forgetting. 

A: What was your first impression of the movie Anora?

H: I thought it was good. I think it was a good representation of modern day sex workers 

E: When I first heard about it, I didn’t know much besides the wedding that was involved and sex work. It seemed both cute and interesting. It seemed like it could be more than just a story, like it could have some sort of societal connection. After the film: What a bummer, man. *laughs*. It’s kind of a pessimistic end, in terms of how women and their bodies are perceived, how the emotional effects of the commodification of one's body can be felt.

A: What do you think about Mikey Madison and Sean Baker deciding not to use an intimacy coordinator?

H: I don’t think it matters. This movie is specifically about sex workers, so I feel like the cast and crew knew what they were getting into with this movie. 

E: As she [Madison] is the one who is in these situations, I would say that most importantly, if she is feeling comfortable, that is what matters the most. I’m surprised to hear there wasn’t an intimacy coordinator, though. In this case it might’ve been okay, even if it was a little bit awkward. 

A: Do you think this movie is empowering for the sex worker industry?

H: In a way, yes and no. In the end, she was just feeling the absolute worst about herself, just because of this one rich Russian kid, but also yes, because you can see that she took her own life into control there. 

E: I wouldn’t say that it’s degrading. It showed the outside life of sex workers. I wouldn’t say it was going out of its way to glorify it though. 

A: What aspects of the movie did you like?

H: Just the overall movie in general. I like how blunt Mikey’s character was. I thought it was fun.

E: I really liked the direction of the longer shots. For example, the chaotic scene when Vanya runs away. The bickering is intense and also funny. I liked how it was snowing at the end, I thought that was a good addition. 

A: Would you change anything?

H: No. I think it’s good as is.

E: I don’t think so. There’s nothing that I can think of.  I think it did a good job at what it was trying to do. 

A: Do you think it deserved all of the Oscars?

H: Oooh. I honestly can’t say for sure, seeing as I haven’t seen the other movies up for nomination. I think it did deserve some. 

E: Director, screenplay, and actress I think are all fair. The others, I think there were some other good competitors. *cough cough* Dune: Part 2 *cough cough*. 

Anora wasn’t the first controversial film, and it certainly won’t be the last. It is widely known that there is no fully correct opinion when it comes to art. Every aspect is dependent on another aspect, and a film can be appreciated for the things it does well while also viewing the deficiencies through a critical lens. Unless it’s Emilia Perez. Just kidding.