Mikey Madison’s performance in the new film Anora is already receiving notable Oscars buzz, and there are several reasons why she deserves the nomination. Directed by Sean Baker, the filmmaker behind The Florida Project and Tangerine, the 2024 film follows its titular protagonist, a stripper whose life changes forever when a wealthy young Russian man proposes to her on a whim. Building toward Anora’s sad ending, the film sees the young woman contending with hired goons and Russian Oligarchs to try to keep her marriage and future afloat.
The Anora cast is led by 25-year-old actress Mikey Madison, who delivers one of the year’s best performances. Before Sean Baker’s modern dark fairy tale, her most well-known roles included Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, where she steals the show in the third act as one of the Manson girls, and 2022’s Scream reboot. She’s built an outstanding early career for herself, but Anora is undoubtedly her most prominent and impressive performance yet.
The 2025 Academy Awards are still months away, and it’s hard to predict who exactly will receive nominations. Many of the films targeting award buzz will be released over the remaining months of 2024, so competition for the Best Actress award will start to ramp up. Given past Academy trends, the current landscape for 2025’s Best Actress category, and the work that went into the titular performance in Anora, there are multiple factors that could see Mikey Madison earning a well-deserved nomination.
8 Mikey Madison Delivers An Unbelievable, Heartfelt Performance In Anora
Mikey Madison’s Performance Is Emotionally Powerful
If Oscar selections were purely about awarding the year’s strongest and most sophisticated performances, Mikey Madison would already be a locked-in nomination. What’s most compelling about Anora and Sean Baker’s typical skill set as a writer-director is the movie’s naturalistic feeling. For the length of the film, audiences are transported into the world of Brighton Beach’s nightclub scene, a seedier depiction of New York City than movie fans might be used to. Mikey Madison’s performance perfectly blends in with the aesthetic Baker establishes, guiding the viewer to feel more thoroughly connected to her character.
By the film’s end, audiences can’t help but break down into tears alongside Anora
Madison’s Anora, who goes by the Americanized nickname Ani, is a mouthful. She possesses a huge personality, a fiery attitude, and a scream that rattles the henchmen who’ve been hired to hold her down. But underneath that exterior shell is a profoundly human character who’s suffering from shock for nearly the entire narrative once her expected fairytale life is upended. By the film’s end, audiences can’t help but break down into tears alongside Anora, as Mikey Madison’s candid portrayal allows for a deep, empathetic connection to her pain.
7 Anora Is The First Film To Highlight Mikey Madison’s Talent
This Is The 25-Year-Old Star’s Biggest Stage Yet
While the young star has appeared in several high-profile projects, she hasn’t had a role in a feature film highlighting her acting talents as prominently as Anora. This is a massive jump for her career, and those are generally the types of movies that will generate the most Oscar buzz for a young star. Consider Elvis for Austin Butler, Call Me By Your Name for Timothee Chalamet, and Winter’s Bone for Jennifer Lawrence.
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The Academy Awards are often about exterior narratives as much as they are about awarding strong work. Seeing a young, talented star make the jump from supporting roles to a leading performance in an outstanding film is a story that award shows love to highlight. Given that she’s the up-and-coming star who’s taken the most significant leap in her career this year, it seems more than likely she’ll earn a nomination, bringing attention to her work.
6 Mikey Madison Is Incredibly Entertaining In Anora
Mikey Madison Brings Laughter, Celebration, & Tears To Theaters
Although the Oscars love to highlight dramatic, nuanced performances, the Academy doesn’t shy away from roles that bring outstanding entertainment to the theater. Consider Mikey Madison’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-star Brad Pitt as a recent example. Cliff Booth was far from his most emotional role, but his screen presence was undeniably impactful. Mikey Madison brings both performative complexity and sheer movie star entertainment to her role in Anora, and it’s a huge reason why the movie has received such widespread acclaim.
it’s easily one of the funniest movies of the year, and Mikey Madison gives one of the most genuinely hilarious performances
Given the movie’s trailers, which paint a Cinderella-like drama tale, one might not expect Anora to be particularly comedic. Yet, it’s easily one of the funniest movies of the year, and Mikey Madison gives one of the most genuinely hilarious performances. There are times when Anora is incredibly dark and dramatic, but those moments are balanced with levity from ridiculous slapstick comedy, where Madison’s material is elevated by the film’s outstanding supporting ensemble. Her screen presence in the leading role is unbelievable, offering audiences terrific moments to laugh out loud and celebrate.
5 Anora Has Received Outstanding Reviews, Highlighting Mikey Madison’s Performance
Anora Boasts A 98% On Rotten Tomatoes
While the Oscars aren’t afraid to highlight performances in movies with mediocre reviews, using Blonde and Maestro as recent examples, having favorable critical scores is undoubtedly an advantage. Screen Rant’s Anora review, which rates the film 9/10, is one of many to highlight a “career-defining performance from Mikey Madison.”Anora has a score of 98% from all reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes, a 4.3/5 star rating from movie lovers on Letterboxd, and a solid 8.2/10 rating on IMDb.
Sean Baker’s movies have typically received outstanding critical and audience acclaim, but the Academy has been known to overlook lesser-known independent films. However, Anora has been hailed by multiple sources as Baker’s strongest work so far, and the buzz building around Mikey Madison’s performance is favorable for the film. The fact that so many reviews are suggesting the possibility of Anora being an awards contender is incredibly promising.
4 Mikey Madison Learned Russian For Anora
Mikey Madison Demonstrated A Dedication To The Acting Craft
As mentioned, the Academy Awards aren’t just about acting. The narrative surrounding the performance is a massive contributor, and the dedication actors go to for their craft is considered. Think about Austin Butler as an example again and how the media sensationalized his Elvis voice in press leading up to the Oscars. Daniel Day-Lewis’s method acting was a massive discussion every year he was nominated for a Best Actor performance. Mikey Madison learning Russian isn’t quite the same as literally becoming Abraham Lincoln, but it’s undeniably essential for an Oscar campaign.
Anora’s cast switches between speaking English and Russian on multiple occasions throughout the film, and though Ani’s understanding of the language is meant to be minimal, the actor must possess some knowledge to maintain the flow of the scene. Mikey Madison not only needed to know how to speak her Russian lines, but she also had to understand the language to keep up in scenes where her Russian co-stars were speaking the language fluidly. In an interview with Moviefone, Madison said the following:
“I did put a lot of pressure on myself to do this character justice and to live up to any expectations that (Sean Baker) had of me. I think that I channeled that into just the immense amount of preparation I put into the character, all the mental preparation and the research, and then all the physical preparation I did, and the dance rehearsal. I think I overcompensated by doing all of that and then obviously learning Russian.”
3 Anora Has Already Proven To Be A Serious Award Contender
Anora Has Won A Major Film Award At Cannes
As mentioned, a film can receive positive critical acclaim and still fly under the radar of major awards shows like the Oscars and the Golden Globes. Sean Baker’s The Florida Project, for example, has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and was hailed as one of 2017’s best movies, yet the only Academy Award nomination it received was for Willem Dafoe’s supporting performance. The Academy noted the work of a familiar actor, but the unknown Bria Vinaite, who gave an unbelievable performance, didn’t receive any recognition.
Anora has a massive accomplishment working to its advantage that The Florida Project didn’t have, which is that Sean Baker’s 2024 movie won the Palme d’Or, the highest honor at the Cannes Film Festival. Oscar contenders will often premiere their films at festivals like Cannes or Venice, as their acknowledgments are some of the most prestigious in the film industry. Winning the Palme d’Or is a massive step for Anora’s recognition.
2 Mikey Madison Trained As A Dancer For Anora
Physical Training Is Often Celebrated By The Academy
Russian wasn’t the only skill Mikey Madison explored to prepare for Anora. Rolling Stone reported that Madison “spent months in daily lessons to master lap dancing, twerking, and pole dancing,” another feat that will play to her advantage come award season. Again, Madison’s dance scenes aren’t a massive part of the film, and the movie likely could’ve been equally as strong without them, but the effort and attention to detail to give a performance faithful to the sex workers she depicts is worth noting.
Like with Mikey Madison learning Russian, the Academy Awards often celebrate additional skills and physical immersion. Natalie Portman’s role in Black Swan and Emma Stone’s performance in La La Land were awarded Best Actress wins for their emotional nuance, but the additional work for the physical dance portions of their roles was a huge component of their campaigns. Even Leonardo DiCaprio had to exert himself by sleeping in an animal carcass to finally win his Oscar for The Revenant. Maybe it’s superficial, but these things matter.
1 The Academy Received Criticism For Snubbing Red Rocket In 2022
Sean Baker Deserves Some Oscars Attention
2021’s
Red Rocket
was one of the most highly acclaimed films of the year, yet it received zero Academy Award nominations.
Sean Baker has been making films for over two decades, and he’s only beginning to earn the recognition he deserves in recent years. He’s built his career on making films about sex workers, material that was considered too taboo for mainstream cinema for years. As mentioned earlier, The Florida Project’s only nomination went to Willem Dafoe despite unbelievable work from Baker and the leading cast members. 2021’s Red Rocket was one of the most highly acclaimed films of the year, yet it received zero Academy Award nominations.
2022’s 94th Academy Awards covered a year in film that was still burdened by the COVID-19 Pandemic. 2021 wasn’t a particularly strong year for movies, and the awards that year were most notable for the Will Smith slap. There’s no reason why Red Rocket couldn’t have received a Best Actor or Best Director nomination, and the Academy deserved criticism for snubbing the project. It’s possible that Anora could receive more nomination attention to accommodate this previous let-down.
Sources: Moviefone, Rolling Stone
Anora’s life takes a dramatic twist when she impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, catapulting her from the streets of Brooklyn to a world of opulence and scrutiny. As her new in-laws arrive with plans to dismantle the hasty union, Anora must navigate the cultural and social chasms between her past and her present. The film, directed by Sean Baker, masterfully blends sharp social commentary with heartfelt drama, painting a vivid picture of love, identity, and the unexpected consequences of a fairytale gone awry.
- Director
- Sean Baker
- Release Date
- October 18, 2024
- Cast
- Mikey Madison , Mark Eydelshteyn , Karren Karagulian , Yuriy Borisov , Vache Tovmasyan , Ivy Wolk , Luna Sofía Miranda , Ross Brodar , Lindsey Normington , Darya Ekamasova , Emily Weider , Alena Gurevich , Masha Zhak , Paul Weissman , Charlton Lamar , Aleksey Serebryakov , Ella Rubin , Vincent Radwinsky , Michael Sergio , Brittney Rodriguez , Sophia Carnabuci , Anton Bitter , Zoë Vnak
- Character(s)
- Anora , Ivan , Toros , Igor , Garnick , Crystal , Lulu , Security Guard , Diamond , Galina , Nikki , Clara , Tatiana’s Hostess , Nick , Court Security , Nikolay , Vera , Jimmy , Judge , Dawn , Jenny , Tom , Rachel
- Runtime
- 139 Minutes
