Sean Baker’s Outrageous Sex Worker Dramedy ‘Anora’ Scores 7.5-Minute Cannes Standing Ovation

Sean Baker’s “Anora,” a hilarious yet touching drama in which a sex worker falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch, energized Cannes Film Festival with a 7.5-minute standing ovation on Tuesday.

As the crowd applauded, the indie maverick director and Cannes darling said into the microphone, “Thank you to the Cannes Film Festival for making dreams come true … And also thank you to all of you for coming out and seeing our film on the best screen in the world. Long live cinema!”

The ovation wasn’t the only chance for applause — the audience erupted into cheers numerous times during the two-hour film, including on several occasions during one wild scene in which the oligarch’s associates raid his son’s mansion.

In the film, Mikey Madison (“Better Things,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) plays Anora, a 23-year-old working at a strip club outside of New York City. Her luck changes when she meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch, who takes her on a week-long bender in Vegas during which the two get married. But when Vanya’s parents find out, the two find themselves being tracked down by Russian gangsters, who attempt to get them to annul the marriage. Both Madison and Eydelshteyn deliver standout performances in “Anora,” balancing witty dialogue (in two languages) with plenty of sex scenes and that awkward new-love feel that makes their connection palpable through the screen.

Baker has become a Cannes regular in recent years. He debuted “The Florida Project,” his look at a mother and her young daughter living on the economic margins, in the 2017 edition of the festival, and then returned in 2021 with “Red Rocket,” the story of a porn star who returns to his hometown in Texas. “The Florida Project’ was sold to A24 out of Cannes and went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Willem Dafoe. “Red Rocket” was also released by A24 and earned several critics prizes and nominations for Baker and star Simon Rex. This time, Neon, the indie studio behind “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Parasite,” is handling distribution duties on “Anora.”

Baker walked the red carpet outside of the Palais on Tuesday afternoon, as did members of the film’s ensemble, which includes Yuriy Borisov, Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan.

Baker’s other credits include “Tangerine,” the story of a transgender sex worker, which debuted at Sundance in 2015. It was shot using SmartPhones.