✳flâneur — a map of the web's best reading

Under the Table | Los Angeles Review of Books

lareviewofbooks.org · 3,458 words · saved by 1 readers

“WHY WOULDN’T YOU have raped me?” Mikey Madison’s Anora hurls this question at her Russian handler as she stands above him. She’s bleary-eyed, in an oversize T-shirt, and he’s sprawled on the couch smoking a cigarette, still smiling from a joke he made earlier. She has spent the past 36 hours in a state of confusion, terror, and total helplessness, and the three weeks before that in a whirlwind romance. Now it’s quiet, and the house is mostly empty, and all the broken glass has been cleaned up. Five minutes from closing credits, writer-director Sean Baker holds the camera on Anora’s face, her mouth half-open, glaring at a man she barely knows. She’s goading him, begging him to admit that he would—that he wanted it. Before this scene, it would be a little hard to say what Anora is about, without simply listing the choices the film makes: the emphasis on class differences between the characters, the Russian-Armenian infighting, the use of the term “independent contractor.” The clearest c

Under the Table Sam Bodrojan considers “Anora” and the emasculated sadism of Sean Baker. By Sam Bodrojan January 5, 2025 Film Gender & Sexuality Did you know LARB is a reader-supported nonprofit? LARB publishes daily without a paywall as part of our mission to make rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts freely accessible to the public. Help us continue this work with your tax-deductible donation today! Donate “WHY WOULDN’T YOU have raped me?” Mikey Madison’s Anora hurls this question at her Russian handler as she stands above him. She’s bl

Explore this link on the map →

related reading