Anora

Way too much of this movie's two hours is taken up with watching a fairly repulsive young couple -- an overprivileged Russian billionaire's sex-and-drug-crazed son and the brassy "sex worker" of the title -- getting it on in various ways and settings. They're both incredibly shallow, stupid, and greedy, though at least you get the sense that she hasn't enjoyed the easy life that he's had. Despite her occupation, she retains a certain believable naïveté.

That's the boring part of the movie. It goes on far too long.

The dumbest part involves the boy's three improbably clownish Russian handlers, who, in what's obviously meant to be a funny scene, behave like actors in a slapstick comedy. It doesn't work at all.

If you don't bail out at that point (as I was tempted to do), you'll find the final portion somewhat more satisfying.

The first 40 minutes can be quite misleading, likely catching viewers off guard if they enter with the expectation of a romantic narrative.

Once the first act concludes and the second act kicks in, there's a striking shift in both tone and style that I honestly did not see coming.

The comedy is genuinely entertaining, with moments that will have you laughing out loud. Despite serious circumstances, the absurdity of the situations elicits laughter and chuckles.

They have certainly nailed the dark comedy sides of the story.

However, I found the dramatic elements to be less impactful than I had anticipated, leaving me puzzled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback it has garnered from all around.

While Mikey Madison delivered an impressive performance, and fully deserves every praise coming along her way, her character needed more depth to properly flourish. It feels as if the writing intentionally held back on details, leaving the job of contemplation solely to the audience.

I wish that weren't the case.

The movie is a fun watch, it is a regular comedy movie and the plot feels similar to a Hangover movie of sorts. I went in expecting some sort of deep underlying symbolism and complex dialogue as is typical of Oscar winning movies. However sadly there isn't a single hard hitting scene in the movie, it relies entirely on Mikey Madison's appearance and acting skills to carry the plot forward. I particularly found it annoying how the characters excessively used the f word, easily 80-90% of the f bombs were absolutely unnecessary and began to sting my ears. The movie keeps you hoping for an intense plot twist, but it never comes. There is very minimal character development in the first half which i feel did not provide sufficient context for the way events unfold in the movie's second half. It starts to get pretty dull by the end. I feel the high critic ratings skewed my expectations from the movie, if i saw this as a casual Sunday viewing I would've absolutely loved it. But as an Oscar winner, this movie is extremely disappointing.

How does a movie with no dialog win an Oscar?? Can someone explain that to me?! Saying a bunch of curse words for 2 hours does not constitute a dialog. The "couple" has zero chemistry so how are we expected to believe that she loved him?? Nothing happened between them for her to fall in love. They go on a vegas trip, spend a bunch of money, and that's it? That's how you fall in love with someone?! Hey writers, I got news for you - it doesn't work that way. It takes more than that! The russian actor was good and yes, the final scene made a lot of sense even though it was predictable as hell. The scenes where they're looking for the guy were soooooo drawn out and pointless. Why would you do that?!

If there was ever any doubt that the Academy was corrupt, after this movie, there is no doubt anymore. It's obvious that the Oscars are won with money, not talent. This movie winning 5 Oscars is undeniable proof of that.

Sorry the movie is predictable and also not really well made as some parts are too long without giving anything more while others are too short and should be more investigated. The only positive thing of the whole 2 hours that the predictable and poorly directed and acted movie is the main actress that is the only reason I made till the end. The car scenes at the end of the movie is the only really scene of the whole thing.

I don't understand how this movie won 5 oscars... probably the level is so low nowadays that you can win big also without this kind of film... This movie won best original screenplay instead of real pain....no idea what they smoked before voting.