Movie Reviews

Film Review: Anora – SLUG Magazine

Published

1 year ago

November 4, 2024

Press Room

Film

Anora
Director: Sean Baker
FilmNation Entertainment and Cre Film
In Theaters: 11.02

There are times that I feel the need to be quite clear that when I give a good review to a film: it’s not necessarily a blanket recommendation for all audiences. If you’re squeamish about strong sexual content in a movie and want any movie that includes it to spoon feed you a redemptive, cautionary message, Anora isn’t going to be your thing. That said, I found it to be it’s one of the most interesting and refreshing films of 2024.

Anora ‘Ani’ Mikheeva (Mikey Madison, Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood, Scream), a 23-year-old exotic dancer in New York City, finds her regular routine suddenly sidetracked when her boss, knowing that Ani learned to speak from her grandmother, sends her to give a lap dance to Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov (Mark Eidelstein), the spoiled young son of a prominent oligarch, Vanya becomes smitten with her, their connection quickly escalates and Ani agrees to visit him at home as an escort. Before long, Vanta is offering Anora the sum of $15000 to be his live-in girlfriend for a week. At the end of this week of partying and lovemaking, a spontaneous marriage proposal in Las Vegas leads Anora to the altar to become Mrs. Zakharov. The honeymoon doesn’t last long, however, as Vanya’s disapproving parents send henchmen left by Toros (Karren Karagulian, Tangerine, Red Rocket,) the young man’s Armenian godfather, who can perhaps best be described as an “off-duty” Orthodox Priest, to break things up. When Vanya learns that his parents are angry and headed to New York, he runs away, and Ani must make a tentative truce with Toros and his gang as they work together, scouring the Russian and Ukrainian neighborhoods of Little Odessa to find him.

Writer-director Sean Baker’s The Florida Project is a masterpiece that is still burned into my mind. The unconventional auteur’s penchant for telling judgment-free stories about people from different walks of life—even those who make what many would consider questionable choices—is put to a different but no less effective use in Anora. While the film is far from a glamorization of sex work—this isn’t a Pretty Woman-style romcom and it doesn’t cut away before things get explicit;the bright and tenacious protagonist is never portrayed as pathetic or deserving of anything that happens to her because of her chosen profession, nor does it bother to offer stock justifications about how she was forced into this life out of desperation. Ani is simply portrayed as a person making a living by doing something that she’s good at, sometimes enjoying her work and gritting her teeth through it at others. There’s a lot about this film that’s left to the eye of the beholder, right down to the fact that strictly speaking, there’s nothing about this story that should be humourous, yet most of Anora is a fast and furious comedy that borders on screwball farce. Baker is not one to keep things too simple, however, and Anora also deals with such dark themes such as the commoditization of women, violence and the ability of those with an unlimited bank account and a very limited conscience to set their own rules. There’s an underlying harsh sadness to the film that at times rises right up to the surface, in particular in the brilliant and haunting final scene.

Anora is aptly titled, as throughout, the title character is the driving force, and Madison is a revelation in the role. Deftly moving from sassy to vulnerable, from sexy siren to hilariously brash New York spitfire, the young actress is magnetic and flawlessly handles the mix of laughter and tears that she’s going to be be giving older and more seasoned stars like Angelina Jolie a serious run for their money come Oscar time. While the whole ensemble is magnificent, the unsung standout who makes as strong an impression as Madison is Yuri Borisov (The Silver Skates, Petrov’s Flu) as Igor, the muscle of the henchman, who forms what begins as a grudging respect for Ani’s ferocity and becomes something else. The fact that the dynamic between them becomes one of the most unexpectedly touching character relationships of the year is certainly in part a testament to Baker’s skill, yet anything less than perfection from the actors would have made it fall flat.

It’s tempting to compare Anora either to a Coen Brothers botched caper comedy, or the older works of Woody Allen, in terms of the raw filmmaking style, the New York setting and the deceptive simplicity of the story. It’s an imperfect comparison to say the least, and not only would it it be a disservice to imply that Baker is trying to imitate anyone else, Anora is more grounded than the Coens’ work and a lot less forced than Allen’s. While I have to emphasize again that this is not a movie for everyone, it’s a great movie, and may well be remembered as the breakout movie that launched the career of one of the great actresses of our time. –Patrick Gibbs

Read more film reviews here:
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Film Review: Here

Movie Reviews

Jeremy Schuetze’s ‘ANACORETA’ (2022) – Movie Review – PopHorror

Published

11 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Jeremy Schuetze’s ‘ANACORETA’ (2022) – Movie Review – PopHorror

PopHorror had the chance to check out Anacoreta (2022) ahead of its streaming release! Does this meta-horror flick provide interesting story telling or is it a confusing mess.

Let’s have a look…

Synopsis

A group of friends heads to a secluded woodland cabin for a weekend getaway, planning to film an experimental horror movie. As the shoot progresses, the project begins to fall apart—until a real and terrifying presence emerges from the darkness.

Anacoreta is directed by Jeremy Schuetze. It was written by Jeremy Schuetze and Matt Visser. The film stars Antonia Thomas (Bagman 2024), Jesse Stanley (Raf 2019), Jeremy Schuetze (Jennifer’s Body 2009), and Matt Visser (A Lot Like Christmas 2021)

My Thoughts

Antonia Thomas delivered an outstanding performance as the female lead in Anacoreta. It was remarkable to watch her convey such a wide range of emotions with authenticity and depth. I was continually impressed by her ability to switch seamlessly between different dialects. I absolutely loved her delivery of the dialogue of telling The Scorpion and the Frog fable.

Anacoreta employs a distinctive, meta-horror style of storytelling. The narrative follows a group of friends creating a “scripted reality” horror film, and as the plot unfolds, the boundary between their staged production and their actual lives becomes increasingly blurred. This was interesting, but at the same time frustrating as a viewer.

Check out Anacoreta on Prime Video and let us know your thoughts!

Movie Reviews

‘Hoppers’ review: Pixar’s best original movie in years

Published

24 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

‘Hoppers’ review: Pixar’s best original movie in years

“So it’s like Avatar?” one character quips in Disney and Pixar’s “Hoppers,” bluntly translating the film’s high-concept premise for the sugar-fueled kids in the audience. And yes, the comparison is apt. The story follows a nature-obsessed teenage girl who manages to quite literally “hop” her consciousness into the body of a robotic beaver in order to spark an animal rebellion against a greedy mayor determined to bulldoze their forest for a freeway.

It’s a clever hook. The kind of big, elastic idea Pixar used to make look effortless. “Hoppers” does not reach the rarified air of “Up,” “Wall-E,” or “Inside Out,” but after a stretch of uneven originals like “Turning Red” and “Luca,” and outright misfires such as “Elemental” and “Elio,” this feels like a genuine course correction. The environmental messaging is clear without being preachy, the animals are irresistibly anthropomorphized, and the studio’s once-signature emotional sincerity is back in sturdy form.

Pixar can afford to gamble on originals when it has a guaranteed cash cow like this summer’s “Toy Story 5” waiting in the wings, but “Hoppers” earns its place in the catalogue. Director Daniel Chong crafts a warm, heartfelt film that occasionally strains under the weight of its own ambition, yet remains grounded by character and theme. Its meditation on conservation and animal displacement feels timely in a way that never tips into after-school-special territory.

We meet Mabel, voiced with bright conviction by Piper Curda, as a child liberating her classroom pets and returning them to the wild. Her moral compass is shaped by her grandmother, voiced by Karen Huie, who imparts wisdom about nature’s sanctity. True to both Pixar tradition and the broader Disney playbook, this beacon of guidance does not survive past the opening act. Loss, after all, is Pixar’s favorite inciting incident.

Years later, Mabel is still fighting the good fight, squaring off against the smarmy Mayor Jerry, voiced with slick menace by Jon Hamm. He plans to flatten the glade where Mabel and her grandmother once found solace. Mabel’s resistance feels noble but futile. The animals have already mysteriously vanished, the machinery is coming, and her last-ditch plan involves luring a beaver back to the abandoned forest in hopes of jumpstarting the ecosystem.

That’s when the film gleefully pivots into mad-scientist territory. At Beaverton University, Mabel discovers her professor, voiced by Kathy Najimy, has developed a device that can project human consciousness into synthetic animals. The process, dubbed “hopping,” allows Mabel to inhabit a robotic beaver and infiltrate the forest from within. It’s an inspired escalation that keeps the film buoyant even when the plotting grows predictable.

Her new posse includes King George, a lovably beaver voiced by Bobby Moynihan with distinct Bing Bong energy; a sharp-tongued bear voiced by Melissa Villaseñor; a regal bird king voiced by the late Isiah Whitlock Jr.; and a fish queen voiced by Ego Nwodim. As is often the case with Pixar, even in its lesser efforts, the world-building is meticulous. The animal hierarchy, complete with titles like “paw of the king,” is layered with jokes that play for kids while slyly winking at adults.

The plot ultimately follows a familiar template. Scrappy underdog rallies community. Corporate villain twirls metaphorical mustache. Emotional third-act sacrifice looms. At times, you can feel the machinery working a little too cleanly. Pixar, and Disney at large, has grown increasingly reliant on sequels and established IP, and “Hoppers” does not radically reinvent the wheel. In an animated landscape where films like “K-Pop: Demon Hunters,” “Across the Spider-Verse,” and “Goat” are pushing stylistic and narrative boundaries, being safe and sturdy may not always be enough.

And yet, there is something refreshing about a Pixar original that remembers how to tug at the heart without squeezing it dry. “Hoppers” is playful, peppered with cheeky needle drops, and builds to a sweet emotional catharsis that may or may not have left this critic a little misty-eyed. It feels earnest and engaged.

“Hoppers” may not be top-tier Pixar. But it is a welcome return to form, a reminder that the studio still knows how to marry big ideas with a bigger heart.

HOPPERS opens in theaters Friday, March 6th.

Movie Reviews

‘Hoppers’ review: Who can argue with hilarious talking animals?

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

‘Hoppers’ review: Who can argue with hilarious talking animals?

Just when you think Pixar’s petting-zoo cute new movie “Hoppers” is flagrantly ripping off James Cameron, the characters come clean.

movie review

HOPPERS

Running time: 105 minutes. Rated PG (action/peril, some scary images and mild language). In theaters March 6.

“You guys, this is like ‘Avatar’!,” squeals 19-year-old Mabel (Piper Curda), the studio’s rare college-age heroine.

Shoots back her nutty professor, Dr. Fairfax (Kathy Kajimy): “This is nothing like ‘Avatar!’”

Sorry, Doc, it definitely is. And that’s fine. Placing the smart sci-fi story atop an animated family film feels right for Pixar, which has long fused the technological, the fantastical and the natural into a warm signature blend. Also, come on, “Avatar” is “Dances With Wolves” via “E.T.”

What separates “Hoppers” from the pack of recent Pix flix, which have been wholesome as a church bake sale, is its comic irreverence.

Director Daniel Chong’s original movie is terribly funny, and often in an unfamiliar, warped way for the cerebral and mushy studio. For example, I’ve never witnessed so many speaking characters be killed off in a Pixar movie — and laughed heartily at their offings to boot.

What’s the parallel to Pandora? Mabel, a budding environmental activist, has stumbled on a secret laboratory where her kooky teachers can beam their minds into realistic robot animals in order to study them. They call the devices “hoppers.”

Bold and fiery Mabel — PETA, but palatable — sees an opportunity.

The mayor of Beaverton, Jerry (Jon Hamm), plans to destroy her beloved local pond that’s teeming with wildlife to build an expressway. And the only thing stopping the egomaniacal pol — a more upbeat version of President Business from “The Lego Movie” — is the water’s critters, who have all mysteriously disappeared.

So, Mabel avatars into beaver-bot, and sets off in search of the lost creatures to discover why they’ve left.

From there, the movie written by Jesse Andrews (“Luca”) toys with “Toy Story.” Here’s what mischief fuzzy mammals, birds, reptiles and insects get up to when humans aren’t snooping around. Dance aerobics, it turns out.

Per the usual, “Hoppers” goes deep inside their intricate society. The beasts have a formal political system of antagonistic “Game of Thrones”-like royal houses. The most menacing are the Insect Queen (Meryl Streep — I’d call her a chameleon, but she’s playing a bug), a staunch monarch butterfly and her conniving caterpillar kid (Dave Franco). They’re scheming for power.

Perfectly content with his station is Mabel’s new best furry friend King George (Bobby Moynihan), a gullible beaver who ascended to the throne unexpectedly. He happily enforces “pond rules,” such as, “When you gotta eat, eat.”

That means predators have free rein to nosh on prey, and everybody’s cool with it. Because of bone-dry deliveries, like exhausted office drones, the four-legged cast members are hilarious as they go about their Animal Planet activities.

No surprise — talking lizards, sharks, bears, geese and frogs are the real stars here. They far outshine Mabel, even when she dons beaver attire. Much like a 19-year-old in a job interview, she doesn’t leave much of an impression.

Yes, the teen has a heartfelt motivation: The embattled pond was her late grandma’s favorite place. Mabel promised her that she’d protect it.

But in personality she doesn’t rank as one of Pixar’s most engaging leads, perhaps because she’s past voting age. Mabel is nestled in a nebulous phase between teenage rebellion and adulthood that’s pretty blasé, even if a touch of tension comes from her hiding her Homo sapien identity from her new diminutive pals. When animated, kids make better adventurers, plain and simple.

“Hoppers” continues Pixar’s run of humble, charming originals (“Luca,” “Elio”) in between billion-dollar-grossing, idea-starved sequels (“Inside Out 2,” probably “Toy Story 5”). The Disney-owned studio’s days of irrepressible innovation and unmatched imagination are well behind it. No one’s awed by anything anymore. “Coco,” almost 10 years ago, was their last new property to wow on the scale of peak Pixar.

Look, the new movie is likable and has a brain, heart and ample laughs. That’s more than I can say for most family fare. “A Minecraft Movie” made me wanna hop right out of the theater.