Anora(2024)

Pooper:
The marriage between Anora (Mikey Madison) and Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn) is doomed to end, anyways, both because his parents force an annulment and separate them, and because Vanya himself is an immature man-child who didn’t really care for Anora. Igor (Yura Borisov) brings her back to New York to gather her things, gives her the offered $10,000 and, after resisting an advance from him, he comforts her when she has a meltdown.

Longer version:
Problems ensue for Anora and Vanya, after their whirlwind marriage in Las Vegas. Toros (Karren Karagulian), a “handler” for Vanya’s parents, sends two henchmen, Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor, to the family mansion, carrying the message that the marriage is to end and be annulled immediately -which the folks intend to personally see, as they are on their way from Russia-, Vanya will be flown back home and Ani -as Anora was also known- is to leave. As Vanya runs away, Ani engages in a fierce confrontation with the two men -especially after being called “a prostitute”-, trashing the house in the process, but she is still subdued by them.

When Toros arrives, he takes Ani’s wedding ring away, offers her $10,000 to agree to the annulment and tries to convince her about Vanya’s true immature and unreliable nature. Although Ani refuses to listen, she agrees to help Toros find Vanya and they all drive around Brooklyn until finding him at Ani’s old stripper club job, where he is seen drunk and cavorting with one of the other dancers. Ani struggles to explain the situation to Vanya, as he is too intoxicated to listen or understand; nonetheless, Toros forces the whole group to drive to the Courthouse, where they have to wait until the following morning to file an annulment.

However, the next day, the annulment request is rejected by the Court because the marriage had taken place in Nevada, which means they would all have to fly back to Las Vegas to make it happen. As they prepare to return to Las Vegas, Vanya’s parents, Nikolai (Aleksei Serebryakov) and Galina (Darya Ekamasova), arrive and rush them on board their own private plane. Ani tries to be courteous to the folks, but Galina treats her with contempt. Vanya, at this point all but revealed to be an irresponsible man with no backbone, gives in to the pressure of his powerful parents and coldly tells Ani their marriage cannot be and she should concede to the annulment, which they all offer her to have papers signed for, right there; she retorts by threatening to start a divorce process, thinking she could get something out of it as there never was a pre-nup in place, to which Vanya’s parent assert they would destroy her in retaliation.

Taken aback by whom these people all really were, Ani has no other choice but to agree to signing the annulment. As a courtesy, Igor suggests Vanya, at least, apologize to Ani for all the inconvenience, but Galina rudely states “her son does not need to apologize to anyone”. Ani insults them both -much to Nikolai’s surprise and amusement- and storms off, to be taken back to the mansion by Igor to collect her personal belongings.

While there, Ani and Igor open up a bit to each other and engage in somewhat civil conversation, although Ani tells Igor “he looks like a rapist who would’ve assaulted her, given the chance”, which he firmly denies. The next morning, Igor keeps the end of the bargain and pays her the $10,000 Toros had offered her to walk away, as he drives her home and also gives her back the wedding ring, as a gesture of good faith. Overcome by emotions, Ani tries to start having sex with Igor, but stops when he moves to kiss her and breaks down crying in his arms as he comforts her.