Sean Baker’s Anora, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, features a star-making performance from Mikey Madison.

Baker (The Florida Project, Red Rocket) tells a modern-day Cinderella story about Ani, a Brooklyn sex worker, who meets Vanya, the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch. He offers her a life of wealth and glamour, but their whirlwind marriage faces trouble when Vanya’s parents fly to New York to intervene. Both wildly entertaining and heartbreaking, Anora takes audiences on a thrilling, unpredictable adventure, drawing comparisons to Pretty Woman. The film plays with genre and audience expectations, but Baker’s deep empathy for his characters stands out. As in all of Baker’s films, he refuses to judge them, making Anora a bold and compassionate exploration of flawed lives in extraordinary circumstances.