Following months of speculation, Anora's director/writer, and biggest star have confirmed what fans suspected about the film's ending.
Anora, which recently came to PVOD storefronts but is still awaiting its streaming date, follows an escort named Annie (played by Mikey Madison) who gets a little more than she bargained for after taking on a job to serve a Russian oligarch's son.
The acclaimed drama ends with Annie in a tough spot, as the life she thought she was going to have has been thrown away. Her marriage to Mark Eydelshteyn's Vanya has been annulled, and she seemingly has to go back to her day-to-day as a down-on-her-luck New Yorker.
Stars Confirm Anora Ending Suspicions
According to several big names behind Anora, the film's ending was intended to be as ambiguous as fans expected.
Speaking on the suspected intentional ambiguity of the Anora ending, star Mikey Madison revealed that it was purposefully meant to be left up to interpretation. Telling Interview Magazine, Madison posited, that the ending is "open-ended" and she has loved hearing what "other people think:"
"It’s been interesting to hear other people’s interpretations, because it’s so open-ended, and I’m more curious to hear what other people think—if they think that the characters will end up together or not, or why they think they end up having s-x."
Director Sean Baker shared a similar sentiment, calling the ending "a very important scene for [him]" (via NPR):
"Oh, well, thank you. It was a very important scene for me. For me, endings are the most important part of the cinema-going experience because it's what you're leaving the audience with and what they'll be talking about moments later on the sidewalk."
He said the film was "designed" to leave audiences hanging a bit:
"For this moment, I think it's a moment of intimacy that we haven't seen earlier in the film. There's a catharsis there. It's been very interesting to hear the interpretations of the last scene. That's how it's designed because it's really not leaving you with any solid answer of what's about to come in Ani's life. It's really up to the audience at that point to sort of write the ending. And it's been really incredible to see that that's what's been happening."
Baker reiterated this sentiment in a profile for Vanity Fair, remarking that he has appreciated everyone "wanting to discuss [the ending] and that was the point:"
"I've been hearing a lot of different interpretations regarding the ending, and some are jaw-dropping, I have to say. But what I appreciate about it is that everybody seems to be wanting to discuss it and that was the point of that last scene. I think unfortunately audiences have been conditioned to be told everything and be told what to think. It’s kind of sad sometimes when I hear from people saying, 'why didn't you tell us what exactly is going to happen?' I don't know—my favorite films, they never do."
"Endings for me are number one," Baker told The Verge, saying he likes to make the audience think:
"Well, endings for me are number one. They’re the most important thing. It’s what you’re leaving the audience with. It’s what they’re going to be talking about minutes later when they leave the theater, and I always have to come up with the ending before even putting one word on paper. I have the beginning, middle, and end, and I figure out that ending, first and foremost. In this case, it was very stressful because I was asking for a lot."
Anora's Ending Scene Explained
Some audience members have bristled with the fact that Sean Baker's Anora does not give its lead character a happy ending, cutting just short of where any sort of definitive conclusion would take place.
The end of the movie sees Mikey Madison being dropped back off at her run-down New York walk-up after a wild few days of partying and living a life of luxury thanks to her spur-of-the-moment marriage with Vanya, a son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.
With her marriage annulled and Vanya headed back to Russia, Annie/Anora returns to the life she once had. However, she is not alone. She is escorted by Yura Borisov's Igor, a Russian henchman hired to watch Vanya while he is in America.
As she goes to get out of the car, Igor offers Annie more than just the settlement money she had agreed to during the annulment deliberations. He also returns to her the wedding ring from her marriage with Vanya to do with as she pleases.
This, confusingly to some, sees Annie initiate a physical favor for Igor, before ultimately breaking down in tears and climbing off the Russian henchman.
The camera then pans in on Anora's teary-eyed face, before cutting to black, leaving Anora and Igor's future unclear as well as not directly addressing why she was compelled to have intercourse with him at that moment.
Many have assumed this was kept ambiguous purposely, with the prevailing theory being that Annie's last act caused her to break as she realized that was the only way she knew how to express gratitude, and, for the first time in the movie, was feeling something genuine, something she did not know how to grapple with.
Anora is now available for purchase online.