Aahana Swrup
The Sean Baker romantic comedy film, ‘Anora,’ tells a unique story about a young woman who finds herself living out the reality of a fairytale romance. After Ani, a stripper at a gentlemen’s club, meets the ridiculously wealthy 21-year-old Ivan Zakharov—or Vanya—she braces herself for a week of fun, wild parties. However, things take an unexpectedly positive turn when Vanya proposes, sending the couple down the route of blissful marriage. Yet, their whirlwind romance screeches to a halt once Vanya’s father, a Russian oligarch, learns about their elopement.
Consequently, Ani’s life is turned upside down as she makes an enemy out of her dangerous in-laws, who want to annul their son’s marriage. While the titular character’s narrative maintains its humor, it also delivers an emotionally profound tale about reality’s complications and cruelties. Fittingly, as the story reaches its end, it paints an ambiguous conclusion. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Anora Plot Synopsis
Anora Mikheeva—though she prefers to go by Ani—is a stripper and an occasional escort at Headquarters, an upscale club. Since she grew up with a Russian-speaking grandma, she becomes the obvious choice to entertain Vanya, a young Russian man who enters the club with plenty of money to spend. Inevitably, he ends up asking for Ani’s number—for out-of-club business—which leads to a handful of encounters with her as a hired escort. During this time, she also learns that Vanya is the son of a Russian oligarch, which explains how he affords his opulent, hedonist lifestyle.
Eventually, the morning after a wild New Year’s party, Vanya makes Ani a deal to become exclusive with him for a week. With fifteen thousand on the table, she quickly agrees, marking the beginning of the pair’s amorous time together. Thus, Vanya jetted to Vegas with his friends and a new girlfriend on his arm. Nevertheless, the week soon ends, bringing the young man closer to his unwilling return to Russia, where he would be forced to work for his father. Afraid to end his days of reckless abandon, he ends up proposing to Ani, which would allow him to keep her and his freedom in America.
Although Ani is reluctant at first, she readily agrees soon enough. Consequently, the duo elope in a chapel in Vegas, entering a new chapter of their lives. Ani quits her job at the club, heedless of the pessimism of the naysayers, and moves in with her new husband. However, their honeymoon phase comes under threat once Vanya’s family catches wind of the latest development. His parents send Toros to the mansion to see if the rumors are true. After his muscle, Garnick, and Igor confirm the validity of their marriage license, Toros prepares to come down to New York on his own.
The threat of his looming arrival compels Vanya to bolt out of the house, no matter the fact that he leaves Ani behind in his haste. As a result, she ends up engaged in a cat-and-mouse chase with the two burly men, who ultimately manage to entrap her, but not before earning a few blows and scratches. By the time Toros makes his appearance, Vanya vanishes. Therefore, Ani has no choice but to comply with the Zakharov family handlers and help them look for her husband.
Although Ani agrees to annul the marriage, she puts forth the condition that she won’t make any decisions without talking to Vanya. Ani wants to believe her partner hasn’t abandoned her and that he will return to help her. Yet, the fact that he refuses to pick up her phone calls points to a different truth. As such, she sourly complies with Toros, embarking on a chaotic goose chase across New York’s Brighton Beach. Eventually, a tip-off from one of her friends informs Ani that Vanya is at her former workplace, partying his troubles away.
Anora Ending: Did Vanya Actually Love Ani? Why Did He Marry Her?
Initially, the film presents Ani and Vanya’s story as a tale of romance, full of passionate and loving montages of their time together. Yet, an undercurrent of doubt remains. Since the duo began their relationship as an escort and her client, there has been an evident power imbalance within their dynamic. Furthermore, Vanya’s proposal—the instance that supposedly brings the end of their transactional relationship and begins a genuine marriage—retains an element of service and payment.
Vanya has to return to Russia to become a puppet in the story his parents have laid out for him. Everything he has is a conditional gift from his parents, including the visa allowing him to stay in the States. Therefore, the 21-year-old thinks that if he gets married and acquires a green card, he won’t have to live under his parents’ thumb anymore. This exact line of thinking brings him to the point where Vanya asks Ani to marry him. Even though it is still possible that he genuinely loves Ani, the timing of things hardly affords him the benefit of the doubt.
Finally, as Toros arrives, the truth of Vanya’s perception of his relationship with Ani becomes evident. At the first sign of trouble, he shirks back to an immature boy who runs away, uncaring of whom he leaves behind in the mess he created. Even when Vanya flees, it isn’t to find a solution. It’s simply to indulge in his inclination toward pleasure. Likewise, after Toro and the others manage to find him, he uses his loopy state as an excuse to ignore Ani’s attempts to talk. When put in front of a judge, Ani is the only one fighting for their future, while Vanya stands by, hungover and ready to follow his parent’s wishes.
Vanya has always just been a juvenile young man who refuses to see the gravity of any issue. He refuses to stand up to his parents and foolishly believes a marriage and a green card would extend his lifelong vacation from responsibility. Once that blows over, he embarks on a city-wide bar crawl to drown out any and all worries. Thus, Vanya has to show his true colors as his playtime wraps up with his parents’ arrival in New York. In the face of his mother’s wrath and disappointment, he remains dead quiet without any defenses for his wife. In the end, he carelessly confirms that their divorce has always been inevitable and that Ani was foolish to think otherwise. In doing so, the Russian heir also affirms that he never truly cared for or loved Ani in any substantial way.
Did Anora Actually Love Vanya?
Like Vanya’s feelings, Ani’s supposed love for him is also complicated. Even so, her affection isn’t a simple fleeting fancy, unlike the former. Ani has only known Vanya for a couple of weeks—barely enough time to fall in love with someone truly. Yet, she indulges in a unique kind of recklessness and allows herself to trust him. Given the industry she works in, Ani isn’t a stranger to fake promises from lovers. Still, she believes Vanya when he tells her he loves her and that he wants her in his life. The allure of a rags-to-riches love story violently draws her in until she forgoes her defenses.
At multiple points throughout the story, Ani pushes herself to believe that Vanya will fight for their marriage to give them the space to fall in true love with each other. She believes in that possibility, and she thinks it’s something her husband also wants. On some level, she’s desperate to believe that her relationship with Vanya isn’t entirely transactional—and that even if it is, she isn’t so quickly discardable in his life. Nonetheless, Vanya thoroughly proves her wrong by abandoning her, replacing her with another escort at a club for a dance, and refusing to stand by her side in front of his parents.
Do Ani and Vanya Get a Divorce?
Initially, Toros attempts to clean up the mess of Ani and Vanya’s marriage before the latter’s parents would have to interfere. Nikolai and Galina Zakharov belong to the Russian oligarchy, which consistently keeps them in public circles. For the same reason, they’re horrified to learn that their son has married a sex worker, believing the connection would only tarnish their family’s name. Furthermore, they aren’t pleased that Vanya went behind their back to rebel against their direct orders for his return to Russia. Therefore, Toros is eager to have their son’s marriage annulled to simmer their anger.
Nonetheless, Toros’ first attempt fails when he realizes he must fly to Nevada to comply with the laws of Vanya and Ani’s Vegas elopement. Consequently, Nikolai and Galina become a part of their chaotic group by the time they strap in for a cross-state trip. Once Ani realizes that the end of her marriage with Vanya is inevitable, she tries to bring out her own claws. So far, she has been convinced that her husband really cares about her. Thus, she has been trying to make a good impression on his family despite her hostility toward Toros and his men. However, afterward, she attempts to take her own shots against Vanya.
Vanya’s lies and deceit have left Ani at an entirely brutal place in her life. She quit her job and moved places all because of her confidence in him. As such, if she leaves this situation with an annulment and a meager ten thousand dollars as a green card marriage fee, she would have to walk away in humiliation and hurt. For the same reason, she tries to stand up for herself by threatening to bring her own lawyer and take her husband’s inheritance in half. Nonetheless, Galina gleefully calls out the emptiness of Ani’s threat, asserting the world-ending trouble she would get in if she tried to go against an oligarchy family. Ultimately, despite her effort at grandeur, Ani has to accept her defeat in an attorney’s office, where she signs away her and Vanya’s marriage.
Why Does Igor Give Ani the Ring?
Ani’s defeat becomes glaringly apparent in the aftermath of the annulment’s completion. As a result, Igor, the otherwise silent goon who has been notably careful around Ani, attempts to support her. He asserts his belief that Vanya owes the woman an apology for manipulating and humiliating her. Yet, as angry as Galina is at her son, she would never deprive him of the privilege of not facing the consequences of his actions. This results in a verbal argument between the mother and Ani, in which the latter manages to get in a good jab or two. Still, she can only walk out of the office empty-handed and with a notice to evict Vanya’s mansion by tomorrow morning.
Suffice it to say, it’s a bitter loss for Ani. The end of the day finds her back in Vanya’s mansion with Igor by her side. After packing up her things, there’s little else to do except spend awkward time with her previous captor. In the conversation that follows—part banter, part actual hostility—Ani deflects Igor’s attempts at consolation by asserting that he assaulted her and would have raped her if given the chance. On his part, Igor takes the accusation with levity, establishing that he never had any desire to rape her because he simply isn’t a rapist. He argues that he had only held her down earlier to follow Toros’ orders while saving her from her own lash-out.
The conversion, a first for Ani and Igor, presents a peculiar dynamic and chemistry between the two. So far, Igor’s inkling for her has been evident—something even Ani notices but writes it off as lust. She thinks the hand-for-fire wants to have sex with her. As such, she’s thrown off when he expresses his disinterest in raping her. Igor doesn’t view her as an object or a means to an end. Instead, he has truly grown affectionate toward her, a way even Vanya couldn’t.
When he drops Ani off and returns to her old, sober home, Igor proves the same. He recognizes the distress that she has gone through and empathizes with her position. Yet, his feelings aren’t born from pity. As a goon for Toros, he understands what it feels like to be used and discarded by the rich. Therefore, Igor wants Ani to have something more than the ten thousand compensation she receives for her troubles. Earlier, when he and Garnik hold her hostage, Toros takes away her engagement ring to return to the Zakharov family. Consequently, Igor knows the value the diamond ring holds for Ani. Thus, he returns it to her as an act of kindness and solidarity.
Why Does Ani Have Sex With Igor? Why Does She Cry?
Igor’s actions toward Ani seem to be laced with good intentions. Still, Ani—who has been hard-wired to see affection and attraction as transactional matters—can’t accept the ring for what it is. She had already made herself vulnerable to Vanya, allowing space for him to hurt her. As such, she’s reluctant to perceive Igor’s actions in a good light. Assuming that Igor has only given her a ring to get in her good graces and woo her is simpler than believing it’s an act of kindness. It allows her to discern his feelings—and maybe even her own—in a safe structure. Igor has given her a diamond ring and his gentle help, so she decides to pay him back with sex.
For the same reason, once Igor returns to the car, Ani subtly switches gears and transforms into her seductress persona. She knows he wants her, and she’s confident that he won’t be able to turn her down once she offers. Things progress as she imagines, and Igor easily complies with her advances. However, in the middle of sex, he does something unexpected—cradling her face in his hands in an attempt to kiss her. This unpredictable action jolts Ani into the reality of her situation. Consequently, she begins pushing at him before finally breaking down in his arms.
There are numerous ways to analyze this scene; the film purposefully leaves it unclear to the audience. One explanation remains that Igor’s attempt to kiss Ani is so bewildering to her that it throws her completely off balance. Ani’s alluring seduction is a part of the persona she puts on for her work. Within that environment, she can be confident in the role every party has to play. It’s a purely transactional act that allows her enough distance to stay emotionally unmoored and safe. Inversely, introducing kissing into the mix instantly flips the meaning behind the act.
Igor’s desire to kiss Ani introduces tender care into their dynamic, displacing the latter from a dependable axis. It reinforces Vanya’s cruelty in using her as a toy in his tantrums, and it teases her about the possibility of something real. As a result, the situation triggers the mounting trauma from the past day that Ani has had to withstand. Worse yet, it offers her a soft place to land that she can’t help but be apprehensive about. In that sense, Ani’s breakdown can be seen as a moment of catharsis, cementing the brutality of her life. Ultimately, Ani doesn’t get a happy ending at the end of her fairytale romance.
Read More: Is Anora (2024) Based on a True Story?
