In a sex-work subgenre populated by the likes of Pretty Woman, The Wrestler and Hustlers, Anora levels up.
It is the only one of those films to win the Palme d’Or and compete seriously for the Oscar best picture. And it is the only one that, thanks to the meticulousness of writer-director Sean Baker, wins so many plaudits for its realism about sex work. The context may be fantastical — fairy-tale trips to Vegas, showdowns with Armenian gangsters in cheesy mansions — but the literal and emotional truth at the heart of the profession never has been more perfectly depicted.
At least, that’s what a lot of us think. But a lot of us have never been sex workers. To understand whether the film really achieves this, it helps to ask the people who have.
That’s what this installment of The Watchers does. THR has convened three veteran sex workers and asked them to dissect what we see. Is the club dressing room vibe right? Does this feel like a step forward in representation? Has a dance ever led to a marriage? Is Ivan a plausible john? Is Ani a plausible prostitute?
THR’s panel gives you a behind-the-scenes look.
The Anora Watchers
Cid V Brunet
Canada-based stripper and author of the memoir This Is My Real Name.
Jacqueline Frances, aka “Jacq the Stripper”
Former sex worker and Hustlers consultant; now a stand-up comedian and filmmaker.
Tiff Smith
Former sex worker who also has worked in film set decoration in L.A. and currently works in retail.
Let’s start with the strip club. It’s such a cinematic staple. Did this portrayal feel right?
JACQUELINE FRANCES I never get tired of seeing a strip club dressing room. Or just the club. You’ve got the opening sequence, the pan of all the girls dancing for all the guys — just another day on the job.
CID V BRUNET Some people have freaked out about [Ani eating dinner from a] Tupperware, but to me it feels totally normal. I like the opening pan too; the pop-synth, the dancing, it all felt really on point. The only part I didn’t believe was that there was a fight and halfway through the girls all get up and leave the guys they’re dancing for. I would not get up and leave any guy that owed me money to go see a fight.
TIFF SMITH I thought the dressing room felt real. The part that didn’t ring true for me was that the strip club was unrealistically busy. So much cash! So many nudes! Or maybe in New York it’s really like that, I don’t know. Maybe we should all go there.
One question I had on realism is when Ani calls out her boss right on the floor for not giving her health care. Is that something a dancer would say to a manager?
BRUNET I’ve seen it happen. I’ve also seen it be really badly received. It depends on the level of resistance in a particular club to the punishing rules they force the girls to adhere to.
FRANCES I remember working at Sapphire 60 [in NYC], and they just opened Sapphire 39 and the manager was giving us a tour through this elaborate new club — that we freaking paid for by giving them half — and I was like, “So lap dances are $40 now, right? Because we’ve been doing them for $20.” They didn’t like that.
BRUNET In Montreal, prices have gone down. They’re $15 or even $10.
FRANCES That’s infuriating. What this movie didn’t touch on is this community of people who are being pushed to the fringe of society because they’re making so little money in this moment of late-stage capitalism. But that wasn’t touched on because the writer doesn’t have experience being a sex worker.
How did the interactions with the customers in the club land with you?
BRUNET In that montage when they’re saying all these things like, “Does your family know you do this?” Or someone can’t pay and you have to get them to an ATM. That felt very real. But I don’t think I saw her getting rejected. And 75 percent of this world is being told no and having someone else chosen. Maybe she’s a magical newbie, but it just isn’t most people’s experience.
FRANCES I like that she fought for herself and was always, “Get the bag, get the bag.” That’s it. Every night of work, you have to deal with toddlers in the shape of men, you have to fight to get your money. I’ve been in the most insane situations to try to get my money, by any means necessary. It prepares you for the world because it’s not any better out there.
I wanted to ask about the escort part, when he morphs from being a customer at a club to paying for sex at his home.
SMITH That was a moment that pulled me out of the story, the first time they’re at Ivan’s mansion, and it’s just like, “Here’s a condom, want to put it on?” Your whole job is to make the client feel desired! You’re creating this fantasy. Yes it’s transactional, but you’re playing a part. You have to make the sex feel organic. So jumping in like that took me out of the story. But for the most part, there wasn’t much that took me out of it in terms of what escorting feels like.
FRANCES In my 10 years of stripping, I never met a 20-year-old Russian oligarch. I mean, I’m sure it happened to someone. Generally though, when I met young men, they’re like, “I don’t understand why anyone would pay for a girl.” I’m like, “Wait till you get married and have children. You will be running — running — to the strip club. To be with a woman who pays attention to you, who doesn’t resent you.” The men I met were married and tired and wanted someone to look at them like they didn’t hate them.
BRUNET The term that comes to mind for me with Ivan is “perfect whale.” He’s sort of the perfect client — until he becomes horrendous, of course, but it’s so extraordinary for a client negotiating prices to start up-bidding himself. I’ve never seen that.
FRANCES Never.
BRUNET Also, I respect her personal hustle. Every time she could ask for more money, she’s doing it. Especially with New Year’s Eve. She’s like, “Holiday rates.” I respect it because I could never fully master the “get them when they’re in love with you” part.
FRANCES She didn’t have an issue of worthiness. She went for it all the time. And I think the struggle with sex work is we act like we’re worthy but we’re afraid every step of the way that they’re going to say no. It’s the leverage — they have the money and we need it.
Yet Ani reverses the leverage.
FRANCES That’s why I think this isn’t just a fantasy for men. It’s also a fantasy for the strippers to watch some girl land it.
BRUNET When she talks about the honeymoon in Disneyland, she is as invested in that fantasy as he is.
FRANCES And then we watch it blow up in front of us, blow up for her.
SMITH Her character is so fully dimensional. That’s why the details about the strip club and sex work don’t matter so much. We’re seeing a fully developed character doing sex work without their profession defining them — that’s what representation really is.
The transition to a more real relationship feels a little like a male gaze or Pretty Woman trope. Is that how you viewed it?
BRUNET I’ve seen a lot of girls dance on that edge with that because to keep a long-term client, you need some dynamic that’s not just, “Give me money and you can touch me” — there has to be a personal aspect.
SMITH When I did [sexual escorting], I hesitated to get into something that wasted my time; I was pretty intent on keeping it transactional. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t so good at it. I wasn’t good at having it be more murky, where you’re going shopping or on a date for no clear benefit. I like how this movie goes so hard the other way and says, “What if these grandiose promises the guy makes are somewhat plausible?”
BRUNET It’s something that never happens in real life, or it maybe happens 1 percent of the time, this “save a ho” trope that someone walks into the club and says “I’ll take you away” and actually does that. That’s part of the fantasy, that there will be something real out of the context of this club. The stripper is offering a fantasy, but the man is doing that, too. And both sides need to recognize that.
Yet Ani doesn’t.
FRANCES That’s because this is a Baby Stripper story.
BRUNET She’s so young and is making all these mistakes.
FRANCES This a cautionary tale for strippers. But also one thing I struggle with in a lot of movies about strippers is the “save me from this horrible work experience.” Personally, I was so sad to leave sex work. It became not safe because I was too known. But it was heartbreaking to leave. Other jobs are awful. I’m teaching dance now for $35 an hour. People said, “Go into real estate.” That sounds horrible, too. The reality is we’re all hos under capitalism. And I enjoyed this kind of being a ho. The clients and dancers love each other and care about each other.
There’s no question Anora improves on so many previous movies about sex work, from Pretty Woman on down. What’s the movie you’d like to see that improves on Anora?
FRANCES I want to look at the johns. We can only humanize the sex workers if we humanize the [clients]. And not as Richard Gere. And not as crazy people. But as lonely, married men who want attention. Christopher Guest-style mundane comedy.
BRUNET In the ending, Ani finally stops being tenacious and starts dealing with the trauma, with the constant overhanging threat of violence in sex work. And you see the toll it takes. I want to watch a movie that shows this multiplicity, that shows not just when a stripper is hot but when they’re a hot crying mess.
This story first appeared in a January stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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