What to Watch: Baker's Dozen

... and some second-thoughts on Baker's "Anora"

If you haven’t seen “Anora” yet, you probably should: Sean Baker’s hard-edged tale of a Brooklyn stripper who marries a Russian oligarch’s son will almost certainly land atop year-end critics’ lists and be up for a number of year-end awards, especially for Mikey Madison’s fearsome, fearless lead performance, at this early writing a front-runner for the best actress Oscar. (A free link to my Washington Post review is here; the film's trailer is here.) But the discussions you might have – should have – after seeing the movie are part of the price of admission, including the question of how much of what’s offered up as an entertainment are we meant to be entertained by? With Baker (“The Florida Project,” “Tangerine”), that’s always part of the equation and in “Anora” the static is greater than usual. (Warning: Spoilers ensue.)

Case in point: The central sequence when the oligarch’s goons arrive to break up the marriage and Ani is hogtied and held down while her new husband heads for the hills. The scene is played for high-tension comedy – the goons take a beating – but from Ani’s point of view it's assault with the very real threat of rape, and it’s terrifying. True, this cognitive dissonance is intentional on Baker’s part. And yet.

I saw “Anora” first in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, with a packed house that roared in antsy delight at the scene, and, really, how could anyone except Ani take these three stooges seriously, even if she is the character through whose eyes we’re meant to see the story? (I would note, though, that it’s around this time that we start to see Ani and the story through the eyes of one of the aforementioned goons, Yura Borisov’s Igor, whose growing sympathy for her becomes the movie’s one strand of tenderness. Still: It’s his eyes we’re looking through, not hers.)

On Sunday, I watched the movie again with an audience made up mostly of older filmgoers, mostly women, and a discussion panel that included Lisa Goldblatt Grace, co-founder and co-executive director of My Life My Choice, a non-profit organization fighting the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. The post-film conversation was honest, earnest, searching – acknowledging the film’s performances and power yet critical of its blind spots, intentional and otherwise. I wish you'd been there. Subsequently, Lisa wrote an excellent piece about her response to the film, which, if you’ve seen “Anora” and are chewing over your response, I urge you to read at the My Life My Choice website. This is a movie that doesn’t just deserves to be talked about but that needs to.

A number of worthy new films are arriving in theaters today even as recent releases are hitting the streaming circuit at premium rental prices. Here’s a round-up of some of your best viewing options.