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Letter to the Academy

 It's a dubious honor to be called "Best Picture." "Crash," "Green Book," "Everything Everywhere"--these are films that will not stand the test of time.


But sometimes a smart, fun film wins the award. That happened in 2025. "Anora" is like a Katharine Hepburn comedy grafted onto a Gena Rowlands drama; amazingly, both halves are successful. The first scene is startling and powerful. The last scene is startling and powerful. What happens in the middle is startling and powerful. The title character--both strong and weak, both smart and dumb with a youthful-stupidity flavor--is dazzling.

When I was in my twenties, I went to work with a teacher who crossed several lines. He narrated stories from his notably active sex life, which, on one occasion, involved two strangers in the span of an hour. He wondered aloud about dumping one recurring buddy, because the buddy would just consent to oral (and not other forms of) sex. Also, he "jokingly" invited me to a science lab for an after-hours study session. I tolerated all of this because I was young and dumb. And I thought that this guy had answers I didn't have; being around him would be a useful education (I decided) because I might learn how to live my life. In fact, the teacher didn't have any answers; it was (eventually) a great relief to discover that I had disentangled myself from his web. I could never tell this story via film script. But--watching "Anora"--I was able to look past obvious differences and to see myself in the Mikey Madison character. I was so charmed by this performance. As I walked to work yesterday, I allowed myself to daydream that Madison might win (while feeling certain the win wasn't possible). What a treat to wake up to the news this morning.

Sean Baker's script steers clear of cliches and finds a "universal" story in a tiny, tiny corner of the world of Brighton Beach. To see Anora grow--even as she resists this growth in the final scene--is to see something new in an American film. E.M. Forster said that Woolf "pushed the light of the English language a little further against darkness." Baker did this, as well, and he deserves his awards.
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