Light & Bright

“So it means pomegranate fruit. Light and bright.” - Igor, telling Anora what her name means.

Reversals

Anora opens on a row of naked strippers giving lap dances. It felt like I was watching something I shouldn’t be watching. But then the camera pans to the last dancer in the row, and I couldn’t look away.

This movie follows the whirlwind romance between Anora, a 23 year-old stripper, and Ivan, the 21 year-old son of a Russian Oligarch. The first half is a fairy tale. But the clock strikes midnight when Ivan’s parents find out about his and Anora’s marriage.

Then, the plot points of the first half are mimicked, but backwards. Like a warped mirror. For example: At first, Ivan and Anora cheer and pop champagne on a private jet en route to their wedding. Later, Ivan screams in frustration and Anora swigs vodka…on that same private jet…en route to their annulment.

This movie has a lot of reversals. Characters are hard and protecting something vulnerable. The mature are delusional and the immature see the truth. Affection and assault aren’t so diliniated. The story is devastating and laugh-out-loud funny.

During that opening scene, we don’t see Anora’s body for long while she dances. The camera zooms in on her face and we see her radiance and control. This could be a reversal—Anora’s spirit, not her body, draw us in. She wears her nudity like armor.

What’s underneath that armor?

Maturity and Fantasy

Anora’s real life isn’t glamorous like the strip club. She has a cheap apartment and long subway commute. If Anora is grounded and works for everything she has, in this movie of reversals, her love interest will be the opposite.

Ivan lives in fantasy. He’s given everything he has. He treats Anora with as much respect as his marijuana, video games, and housekeeper. Like another toy.

But Ivan isn’t the delusional one.

Anora: “You’re an adult.”

Ivan: “I just need to talk to my parents.”

Anora lives in reality, but doesn’t understand reality. She’s blinded by the hope of fantasy—that Ivan might be her ticket out of this tough life.

Ivan lives in fantasy, but understands reality. As soon as the henchmen make their intentions clear (that the marriage will be annulled and Ivan will return to Russia permanently), he flees. He knows his parents call the shots. But it takes Anora the entire movie to get it.

Just like Toros says: Anora and Ivan don’t love each other. They’re using each other. Ivan uses Anora for pleasure. Anora uses Ivan for security. In the end, they give each other the opposite.

Anora doesn’t really show Ivan a good time—she’s the catalyst for his fun ending. Neither does Ivan give Anora security—he’s the catalyst for Anora realizing she is alone.

Both start this relationship wide-eyed and hopeful. By the annulment, their eyes show the change. Anora’s eyes become vacant. She finally sees the truth and is gutted by it. But Ivan just puts on his sunglasses. He shields himself from the destruction he’s caused.

”Thank you for making my last trip to America so fun” - Ivan, after signing the annulment papers.

Care and Control

Anora’s husband should protect her, but hurts her. Which means the man who should hurt her, protects her.

The tension between Igor and Anora is apparent immediately. We see signs of their backwards love in backward plot points.

The movie opens with Anora giving a lap dance. She’s in control. But in their first scene together, Igor restrains Anora……..on his lap. He’s in control. He’s also the only one to pick up on Anora’s relentless spirit. He knows she will never stop fighting back.

Igor uses a red scarf to gag Anora. Later, he offers her that same scarf to keep her warm on the windy day. Anora is stunned. Maybe because he was prepared to gag her again. Maybe because he noticed she was cold and did something about it.

Anora has manipulated her sex appeal into a well-developed blueprint for controlling men. She knows if she acts a certain way, men will react a certain way. But that doesn’t work with Igor. He treats her like a person, not a sex object. For better or worse, Anora is not in control of her relationship with Igor.

The two are alone the night after the marriage annulment. Sexual intimacy would be not be significant for Anora, but their emotionally intimate conversation is like a backwards consummation. She comments how Igor would have raped her that first day, had they been alone. Igor insists he wouldn’t have. But Anora can’t conceive of a man who, if given the chance, would choose not to violate her.

Without realizing it or saying it directly, Anora reveals the crux of her pain—nobody cares about her.

Give and Take

Snow is falling the morning after the annulment. Call me crazy, but if a story ends with snow, I immediately think of The Dead by James Joyce. The living and the dead are about to be evened out. Or in this case, the tough and the vulnerable.

Igor takes Anora to the bank, then drives her home. Her journey is over.

Not quite.

Still in the car, Igor gives Anora her engagement ring. This is our backwards proposal.

When Ivan proposes to Anora in Las Vegas, it means nothing. He just wants his fun in America to continue, which a green card marriage would allow. But when Igor gives the ring to Anora, it’s meaningful. It was a risk to steal it back from Toros. He cares.

How will Anora respond to this gesture?

Shadows and Snow

Throughout the movie, Anora and Ivan go by two names: Anora vs Ani and Ivan vs Vanya. Both characters want to be adults, but carry a childish spirit within themselves.

This movie has been a marathon of Anora never giving up. She flirts old men to the ATM, screams, bites, drags her husband out of a private room with her rival stripper, tries to ingratiate herself to a mother-in-law who openly hates her. Her relentlessness is at times cringy and juvenile. But she does not stop.

When Igor gives her the ring, she is overwhelmed. He cares about her. To show her thanks, she follows her blueprint. She puts on the armor, takes control, and initiates sex. They don’t kiss and she keeps her clothes on.

If the movie opens with Anora in the dark strip club—physically naked but emotionally protected—we’re going to end with Ani in the light—physically clothed but emotionally vulnerable.

Violation and Vulnerability

After a few moments of Anora on top of him, Igor tries to pull her in for a kiss. He makes eye contact and forces her to stay still. The entire movie, men have watched Anora, but none has really seen her. In this moment, Igor insists on seeing Ani.

Being seen is an emotional violation to Anora. She resists and lashes out. Igor wouldn’t rape Anora, but in this moment, he forces her to be emotionally vulnerable.

Whether from trust or sheer exhaustion, Anora breaks down. He pulls her in for a hug and holds her as she sobs. We fade to black and the movie ends.

“Time to go break this bitch. Let’s go.”

-Toros

This scene changed my understanding of the movie. I don’t think this love story is really about love.

Before restraining Anora earlier in the movie, Toros says to Igor, “Time to go break this bitch.” I think that’s what this movie is about. Anora keeps fighting on the outside, but slowly, deep inside, she breaks down. Never giving up is exhausting. We see the toll it takes during this scene.

Igor is as relentless as Anora. She consistently pushes him away, but he consistently pushes in (literally, he is always in the shot, watching her). Igor detects Ani’s longing for someone to care about her and fulfills it. Maybe he knew Anora would never let him care about her, that he would have to force it. Maybe he sensed Anora’s tough behavior was a front for survival.

Does Anora, deep down, want Igor to push in? Does it feel good to let out her despair? To be held? What now?

I don’t know. But all movie, we’ve watched Anora. Now, for the first time, we see Ani.