#Anora releases on Hulu March 17 pic.twitter.com/dN7meess6g

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) March 3, 2025

the crucial thing to ANORA is that to Ani believing in the relationship doesn't just nail what it's like to be naive about the future in your 20s, it's that being with Vanya will so radically change her life and social circumstances she has no choice but to believe it's real https://t.co/PylMOuVFsU

— Brendan Hodges (@metaplexmovies) March 3, 2025

for me the real achievement of Madison's performance is how brilliantly she captures someone trying desperately to submit to a fantasy they know might be a farce, where feelings of sadness and failure are always circling the periphery. she is the dramatic backbone of the movie

— Brendan Hodges (@metaplexmovies) March 3, 2025

Personal pride, too; her biggest enemy in the club (correctly) predicted it would end in tears and she doesn’t want to let her win, among other reasons.

— Sancho Harrington (@SanchoHarringtn) March 3, 2025

Also the critique in the OP seems to imply that the Ani at the beginning of the film is street-smart and world-weary, which is just... explicitly not the case. She has a glowing joie de vivre which often teeters into immaturity and impulsiveness. They show us this!

— Andrew, Sun's Avatar (@Aethros_Tempest) March 3, 2025

Those are all fair points and I can see how you and many others read it that way. Not how I reacted to it, but I get that I'm probably in the minority.

She's arrived. ✨ #Anora, winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, is now streaming. pic.twitter.com/NEo0Uhu1hq

— Hulu (@hulu) March 17, 2025

5X Oscar winner ‘ANORA’ is now streaming on Hulu.

See what other movies just got added to Hulu: https://t.co/8CjteTI7kC pic.twitter.com/BrKsFAX6Bq

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 17, 2025

TCTTS said:

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Man, I had a completely different read of the movie. To me, it was WAY more about her losing her newfound status/wealth than it was about her losing the guy. She fell in love with a lifestyle, not the guy. She fell in love with the idea of getting to leave her old apartment/*****y sister behind, not the guy. She fell in love with the idea of getting to rub it in the face of that one rival stripper, not the guy. Sure, she came to tolerate, and then even like the guy, but IMO her devastation didn't stem from losing him, specifically. It was that she was given a cheat code to life, flaunted it, and then lost it in embarrassing fashion even faster than she attained it.

Also, personally, going in, I didn't have any idea about the ending, and thought it worked brilliantly. In fact, that was one of the most effective endings I've seen in some time, one that underlined for me that Ani was never in love with Vanya, and that Mr. Right (Igor) was right there the entire time.

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I watched this last night on Hulu and this was my interpretation of the movie as well. She was never in love with him, she married his money and status, not him because she didn't really even know who she was marrying. He just didn't care, he was a kid behaving as if nothing in his life has a consequence, even a marriage, it was all just a part of an experience to him.

I appreciated how the movie transitioned from a Pretty Woman situation to cold hard reality. I liked Igor the most, he was a great foil to both Vanya and Anora. He told her he liked her name, and it was better than using Ani. She knew Russian because her grandmother never learned English, he was driving his grandfather's car, he was sentimental about his family as she was. I thought that last scene with them in the car was probably the smartest part of the movie, that's what was needed to bring her story to a close, that told you everything you needed to know about her. She treats sex like a commodity, having any sort of connection with Igor was something she rejected because of how she views it, she couldn't handle it. Nothing she experieced with Vanya meant anything to her at the end of the day, she knew she wasn't in a fairy tell where she's going to live happily ever after and she was mad about ever thinking it could be true.

Absolutely, and reality hits hard. The first half of the movie I didn't think was anything noteworthy, but for the second half/ending to hit the way it does, it was 100% what it needed to be. The party has to be at a 10 for her to fall as hard as she did.

All very well said.

fat girlfriend said:

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Trailer looks terrible.

Is this just another in a long line of movies that wildly mischaracterizes what the life of the typical hooker is actually like, making them look like empowered women instead of what they actually are - poor and addicted women exploited by men, made into a consumable product and robbed of all life and vitality?

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Look at this gal. Trying to rile up the base here only for the point not to be connected to the film at all.

The movie is quite the opposite and one of the most brutal takes on the emotional realities for a sex worker as well as their social status all the way to the final scene being spoiler blacked out about in this thread.

TCTTS said:

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Man, I had a completely different read of the movie. To me, it was WAY more about her losing her newfound status/wealth than it was about her losing the guy. She fell in love with a lifestyle, not the guy. She fell in love with the idea of getting to leave her old apartment/*****y sister behind, not the guy. She fell in love with the idea of getting to rub it in the face of that one rival stripper, not the guy. Sure, she came to tolerate, and then even like the guy, but IMO her devastation didn't stem from losing him, specifically. It was that she was given a cheat code to life, flaunted it, and then lost it in embarrassing fashion even faster than she attained it.

Also, personally, going in, I didn't have any idea about the ending, and thought it worked brilliantly. In fact, that was one of the most effective endings I've seen in some time, one that underlined for me that Ani was never in love with Vanya, and that Mr. Right (Igor) was right there the entire time.

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way sunnier read on that scene than I had. It wasn't a love story with Igor.

She just spent an entire day with her husband not even looking at her much less speaking to her, the family basically discarding her like trash, the Father just laughing at her insults and rants because they were true… but ultimately, while what she thought the rest of her life would be was taking a catastrophic fall, they are discarding her in 24 hours at little cost to them.

If you think about the interactions with Igor the night prior to the final scene, at that time she couldn't even process… why's this dude nice to her. She didn't know how to process kindness from a man in any other way than returning it sexually. If you even think about the way that scene was shown… it was quite mechanical down to her spitting in her hand and not undressing at all to have sex.

Thats why I think the movie is quite brutally honest about sex work and what it does to women.

FL_Ag1998 said:

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Just watched it on Hulu. Definitely entertaining (a tad too long) and I get the acclaim for Madison's performance, but this was not the best picture of the year

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I just saw it as well and it was entertaining and a bit more comedic than anticipated, what movie would you say was the best?

Yeah... but... didn't you see all the boobs?

Dune Part 2 had not boobs. Can't give that Best Picture.

GoAgs92 said:

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FL_Ag1998 said:

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Just watched it on Hulu. Definitely entertaining (a tad too long) and I get the acclaim for Madison's performance, but this was not the best picture of the year

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I just saw it as well and it was entertaining and a bit more comedic than anticipated, what movie would you say was the best?

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Well, I haven't even come close to seeing all of the actual nominees, but I did watch Sing Sing the night before watching Anora. It wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, but I felt like it had more impact, was even better directed, was a tighter movie (Anora should have been 15-20 mins shorter), had just as many fantastic performances, and has actually stuck with me longer than Anora

FL_Ag1998 said:

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GoAgs92 said:

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FL_Ag1998 said:

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Just watched it on Hulu. Definitely entertaining (a tad too long) and I get the acclaim for Madison's performance, but this was not the best picture of the year

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I just saw it as well and it was entertaining and a bit more comedic than anticipated, what movie would you say was the best?

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Well, I haven't even come close to seeing all of the actual nominees, but I did watch Sing Sing the night before watching Anora. It wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, but I felt like it had more impact, was even better directed, was a tighter movie (Anora should have been 15-20 mins shorter), had just as many fantastic performances, and has actually stuck with me longer than Anora

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I agree it went too long and didn't seem Best picture worthy…but I haven't seen the contenders either, so what do I know. I do like that the lead wasn't too hot for the seedy place she worked.

GoAgs92 said:

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FL_Ag1998 said:

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GoAgs92 said:

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FL_Ag1998 said:

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Just watched it on Hulu. Definitely entertaining (a tad too long) and I get the acclaim for Madison's performance, but this was not the best picture of the year

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I just saw it as well and it was entertaining and a bit more comedic than anticipated, what movie would you say was the best?

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Well, I haven't even come close to seeing all of the actual nominees, but I did watch Sing Sing the night before watching Anora. It wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, but I felt like it had more impact, was even better directed, was a tighter movie (Anora should have been 15-20 mins shorter), had just as many fantastic performances, and has actually stuck with me longer than Anora

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I agree it went too long and didn't seem Best picture worthy…but I haven't seen the contenders either, so what do I know. I do like that the lead wasn't too hot for the seedy place she worked.

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Yeah, the lead actress was great and fit the role perfectly.

If you get Max, I highly recommend watching Sing Sing.

TCTTS said:

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Man, I had a completely different read of the movie. To me, it was WAY more about her losing her newfound status/wealth than it was about her losing the guy. She fell in love with a lifestyle, not the guy. She fell in love with the idea of getting to leave her old apartment/*****y sister behind, not the guy. She fell in love with the idea of getting to rub it in the face of that one rival stripper, not the guy. Sure, she came to tolerate, and then even like the guy, but IMO her devastation didn't stem from losing him, specifically. It was that she was given a cheat code to life, flaunted it, and then lost it in embarrassing fashion even faster than she attained it.

Also, personally, going in, I didn't have any idea about the ending, and thought it worked brilliantly. In fact, that was one of the most effective endings I've seen in some time, [sp]one that underlined for me that Ani was never in love with Vanya, and that Mr. Right (Igor) was right there the entire time.[/sp]

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We watched it last night. Completely came away with this exactly. Thought it was a pretty great, raw, and sort of unique take on a classic trope.

Max Power said:

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TCTTS said:

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Man, I had a completely different read of the movie. To me, it was WAY more about her losing her newfound status/wealth than it was about her losing the guy. She fell in love with a lifestyle, not the guy. She fell in love with the idea of getting to leave her old apartment/*****y sister behind, not the guy. She fell in love with the idea of getting to rub it in the face of that one rival stripper, not the guy. Sure, she came to tolerate, and then even like the guy, but IMO her devastation didn't stem from losing him, specifically. It was that she was given a cheat code to life, flaunted it, and then lost it in embarrassing fashion even faster than she attained it.

Also, personally, going in, I didn't have any idea about the ending, and thought it worked brilliantly. In fact, that was one of the most effective endings I've seen in some time, one that underlined for me that Ani was never in love with Vanya, and that Mr. Right (Igor) was right there the entire time.

---

I watched this last night on Hulu and this was my interpretation of the movie as well. She was never in love with him, she married his money and status, not him because she didn't really even know who she was marrying. He just didn't care, he was a kid behaving as if nothing in his life has a consequence, even a marriage, it was all just a part of an experience to him.

I appreciated how the movie transitioned from a Pretty Woman situation to cold hard reality. I liked Igor the most, he was a great foil to both Vanya and Anora. He told her he liked her name, and it was better than using Ani. She knew Russian because her grandmother never learned English, he was driving his grandfather's car, he was sentimental about his family as she was. I thought that last scene with them in the car was probably the smartest part of the movie, that's what was needed to bring her story to a close, that told you everything you needed to know about her. She treats sex like a commodity, having any sort of connection with Igor was something she rejected because of how she views it, she couldn't handle it. Nothing she experieced with Vanya meant anything to her at the end of the day, she knew she wasn't in a fairy tell where she's going to live happily ever after and she was mad about ever thinking it could be true.

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I also think that she was moving, to her, from one form of sexual transaction to another. She knew it was all transactional, but thought they each had a part to play. I felt like her feelings of betrayal were much less about "love" and more that he was breaking the agreement.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Disappointing movie.

The academy awards people are on crack.

Passed over Complete Unknown and even Substance for this?

Movie was forgettable. This is Pretty Woman and the Hangover do sex.

This was a Cinemax at 1am in 1996 kinda deal; not an Oscar winner.

Will keep you entertained but lower your expectations.

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Watched it tonight. Agree with you. My wife and I looked at each other and said "this was the best movie of the year?". All of the characters were annoying AF.
Pretty disappointed. Glad I didn't pay for it.