Anora surprises with Best Picture win at Critics Choice Awards 2025

Anora is a comedy-drama film by Sean Baker that has received several awards and recognition throughout the year. There's another feature to their cap from the Critics Choice Awards.

The film bagged an award in the category of Best Picture at the ceremony's 2025 edition. This can further elevate the film's status among the circles of film enthusiasts and award circuit. Several shows like Baby Reindeer, Hack, and Shogun also bagged awards in the television category.

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Anora bags Best Picture win at Critics Choice Award

At the 2025 Critics Choice Awards, Sean Baker's Anora won the Best Picture Award. This is another major win for the film as it won the Palme d'Or last year which is the highest honor of the Cannes Film Festival. Anora was nominated in seven different categories at the Critics Choice Awards which took place at Barker Hangar, Santa Monica. It was hosted by comedian-actor Chelsea Handler.

Anora was also nominated at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards and 78th British Academy Film Awards. Besides these, it has also bagged six nominations for the Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. It has also been listed in the top 10 movies in 2024 by the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review.

Sean Baker has written, edited, and directed the film. He is also its co-producer along with Alex Coco and Samantha Quan. The film is about the titular s*x worker (played by Mikey Madison) and her troubled marriage with the son of a Russian billionaire named Vanya Zakharov (played by Mark Eydelshteyn).

Here's the official synopsis:

A young escort from Brooklyn meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairy tale is threatened as his parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

The film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and was released theatrically on October 18, 2024, by Neon. It met with critical acclaim and became a commercial success.

Earlier, Baker spoke to NPR about the age dynamic between the lead actors. He said,

"I mean, Ivan is 21 years old. Ani is 23. They're both young people. And I think that for her, she finds him to be a charming, fun individual who has a life that she desires. And I think Mikey Madison, who plays Ani in the film - we had a lot of discussion about where she is in her life and whether or not she truly is in love with Ivan when they get married in a very impromptu way in Vegas."

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