The Cannes Film Festival took a steamy turn Wednesday as sex worker saga "Anora" wowed critics, and a red-hot Brazilian thriller set in a seedy adult motel had its world premiere. With the French film gathering nearing its climax, "Anora", which begins as a modern Cinderella tale about a New York erotic dancer, has emerged as a possible Palme d'Or contender.
Ani, played by Mikey Madison "Scream" , is an escort who works at a Manhattan strip club, occasionally providing extra services for clients. She strikes gold when a transactional affair with Ivan Mark Eydelshteyn , the year-old son of a Russian oligarch, rapidly escalates into something more. But when Ivan's billionaire parents hear rumours of marriage and dispatch a trio of goons to fix the situation, Ani must decide whether to cling on to her dream new life, or cooperate.
It is the latest from indie director Sean Baker, who has chronicled sex workers and porn stars with previous films such as "Starlet", "Tangerine" and "Red Rocket". Some people consider it a liberating thing for people to do while others would say it entraps them and exploits them. So it can be explored forever. Baker also called for sex work to be decriminalised, because "sex workers' bodies are sex workers' bodies.
The Guardian hailed an "amazing, full-throttle tragicomedy of romance, denial and betrayal". It is one of 22 movies in competition for the Palme d'Or, the top prize of the Cannes Film Festival, with the winner announced Saturday by a jury led by "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig.
Other frontrunners this year include "Emilia Perez", a musical about a narco boss who undergoes a sex change, and "The Substance", a feminist body horror starring Demi Moore. Francis Ford Coppola's ambitious fable "Megalopolis" has its admirers but proved sharply divisive, while Donald Trump biopic "The Apprentice" has drawn strong reviews as well as legal threats from the ex-president.
