I, for one, was not expecting Anora—Sean Baker’s new critically-acclaimed comedy about a sex worker—to feature the best fight scene of 2024. So you can imagine my delight when, at a press screening at the 2024 New York Film Festival on Monday evening, star Mikey Madison absolutely wails on two dudes who break into her house. And she does it all without wearing pants.
Baker, a filmmaker known for shining the spotlight on pockets of working-class America (Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket), takes Anora viewers to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brighton Beach, home to a large community of Russian-speaking immigrants. Madison’s character, Anora—or Ani, as she goes by—is an exotic dancer in the area, who speaks some Russian, thanks to her grandmother. She’s therefore tasked with taking care of a VIP client, Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch who visits her strip club.
Vanya likes Ani very much, and she likes him, too. When he offers to pay her to be his private escort for the week, she agrees. When he impulsively proposes they marry in Vegas, so he can legally live in the U.S., she agrees to that, too. Why wouldn’t she? A rich prince showed up and offered her a glass slipper!
But a Cinderella story, this is not. Vanya’s parents catch wind of the marriage and send their people to “fix” the situation. Two burly guys, Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov), show up at Vanya’s mansion in Brooklyn, interrupting Ani and Vanya mid-coitus. They push their way into the house, demand to see the marriage license, and then get their boss, Toros (Karren Karagulian) on the phone. Toros informs Vanya his parents are on their way to New York to pick him… and Vanya bolts. Ani is left alone with the two goons, in nothing but an oversized tee shirt and her boy-short underwear.
Igor tells Ani she can’t leave. But Ani is from Brooklyn. No one tells her what to do. She chucks a candlestick at Igor’s head, breaking one of the no-doubt priceless works of art on the wall. All hell breaks loose. Suddenly, it’s an honest-to-god action sequence, complete with stunt work and shattered glass coffee tables.
Igor pins Ani to the couch. He ties her hands with a landline phone cord. In response, she bites him, hard, in the neck. When Garnick dithers on how to help, she wastes no time kicking him right in the kisser, breaking his nose. And when all else fails, she screams. Loud.
Ani may not win the fight in the end—it’s still two huge guys vs. one very scrappy but very tiny girl—but throughout the sequence, Madison is delightfully, believably fierce. This is not some generic superhero action scene filled with stunts that are so far removed from reality, you can barely follow along. This is raw, unhinged, and authentic. Yes, it’s also very funny, echoing the slapstick physicality of old-school romantic comedies like Bringing Up Baby. But Madison’s panic—simmering just beneath her anger—adds a layer of authenticity to the screwball antics.
It’s arguably the best scene of the film, and acts as the turning point in Ani’s story from fairy tale to nightmare. But no one can say she went down without a fight.
Anora will open in theaters on October 18.