Anora [4K UHD]

Studio: The Criterion Collection

May 02, 2025 Web Exclusive By Zachary Lee Photography by The Criterion Collection

At the peak of its Oscar run, the Criterion Collection announced that director Sean Baker’s Anora would enter its ranks. I was surprised, not because it was undeserving. Still, the turnover rate seemed so soon, as if Criterion was christening the film into its ranks prematurely, given all the other films it could have included. After viewing the film three times in the past year, I can confidently share that the label’s move to release it in its 4K UHD Blu-ray was not only a strategic move–the film went on to win five Academy awards, including Best Picture, making its release in April serendipitous for those wanting to add it to their collections–but also a rightful endorsement of the film’s quality and worthiness. It’s a disarmingly tender modern-day fairy tale anchored by a star-making performance from not only Mikey Madison, but a stellar supporting cast.

The film focuses on a New York City-based stripper, Ani (Madison), whose life takes a turn for the glamorous when she meets Russian client Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn). The two get married on a whim, which angers his wealthy parents, who are frustrated he’d marry someone of such low class. Ivan, who (up until his parents’ intervention) seemed only guided by how much fun he can have at the highest price point, disappears, leaving Ani along with Ivan’s henchmen and caretakers, Toros (Karren Karagulian), Igor (Yura Borisov) and Garnik (Vache Tovmasyan) to chase after him.

I’ve seen Anora be compared to films like Uncut Gems due to its stressful, mile-a-minute pace. While the film certainly revels in its freneticism, between the car chases and home invasions, Baker weaves in commentary about the dangers of extreme wealth and how it empowers the haves to treat the have-nots in cruel ways. Take a sequence where Toros threatens Ani when she refuses to divorce Ivan. Toros claims that because Ani is poor and low-income, she probably has a criminal record; so if they bribe the right people, they can easily frame her as a conspirator who tried to steal the family’s money (when in reality, Ivan and Ani got married willingly). There are lots of moments of casual wickedness and cruelty in the film. There’s the verisimilitude of Ani having free will and choice, but she is forced to comply and go down a path she doesn’t want to, since the people above her on the socioeconomic scale can make her life much worse.

Anora is a film that has no paucity of color. The way Baker and cinematographer Drew Daniels use lighting, to emphasize the ways Ani flits between connection and disconnection, is just one of the ways the film’s visual language shows how glamor and glitz can easily distract. Thankfully, the 4K image quality here not only preserves the intentionality of Baker and Daniels’ lighting choices, but amplifies them to a greater effect. Anora’s many nightclub scenes are pristinely captured, the contrast between the party lights and the bodies that dance and hide beneath the theme standing out much more striking. The audio quality is also noteworthy, particularly in the sequence where Ani’s and Ivan’s home are invaded by Toros and his gang. It’s easy for the overlapping dialogue, shouting, and interjections to merge together, but I was able to hear everything with much more clarity (which helped me pick up on dialogue moments I missed during my first viewings).

Alongside the film, the Criterion Collection’s release includes two noteworthy commentaries. One features Baker, Daniels, and producers Alex Coco and Samantha Quan; the other includes Madison, Karagulian, Eydelshteyn, and Borisov. They’re both stellar, yet I found the one with Baker, Daniels, Coco, and Quan to be most invigorating, particularly in how they go into some of the technical aspects of sequences, such as the extended home invasion scene. Behind-the-scenes documentaries, deleted scenes, audition footage and the 2024 Cannes Press Conference are also included. It truly does feel like no stone was left unturned with this release.

Anora was hailed as a star-making moment not just for Madison but the entire supporting cast and a time for Baker to get his dues; it’s only fitting that this Criterion release follows a similar breathtaking suit.

(www.criterion.com/films/34891-anora)

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