10 Movies To Watch if You Love Anora

If you thought Anora was hectic, the Safdie Brothers’ monster hit Uncut Gems will leave you curled up in a ball, craving a nice warm hug; in a good way, of course! The Adam Sandler vehicle is one of those films where you find yourself screaming at the screen, begging characters not to do the foolish things they’re about to do, and it’s so much fun.

Like Anora, this is a story of wild adventure in a dark, seedy, crime-ridden world. The difference is, while we root for poor Ani, Sandler’s Howard Ratner pretty much deserves everything he gets. It’s by far the best Sandler movie of all time, and if you’ve got a Netflix subscription, it’s an absolute must-watch – grab some drinks, kick back with friends, and embrace the chaos.

While The Florida Project is the more high-profile flick in Sean Baker’s back catalogue, Tangerine is his most impressive and creative. Shot entirely on an iPhone, with acting novices Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in the lead roles, this 2015 indie movie is what filmmaking is all about: getting out there, shooting something, and producing raw magic. This film genuinely made me go out and start trying to make my own films… I struggled, of course, but Baker absolutely flourished with this effort.

Like most of Baker’s work, Tangerine leans on themes of problematic relationships, the treatment of sex workers, and absolute mayhem on the streets of America. If Anora and The Florida Project are a little too polished and refined for your tastes, Tangerine offers all the grit and grime you’re looking for.

Long before Sean Baker and the Safdie Brothers sparked a new wave of disruptive and distressing narratives, the master filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, had the subgenre locked down. His dark, twisted 1985 comedy, After Hours, has without a doubt influenced so many since. If you want to go back and see the blueprint for films like Anora, this is it.

After Hours is a severely underrated Scorsese effort, overshadowed by its glitzier, more star-studded siblings. However, if you ever wanted to see the revered filmmaker embrace his weird side, this is where he really lets loose. Be warned, though, catching this sharp 90-minute flick on a streaming service is going to cost you, but it’s totally worth it.

Xavier Dolan captures all the misery and messiness of Anora and ramps it up to 11 with his 2014 coming-of-age story, Mommy. The French-Canadian film depicts the troubled life of teenage tearaway, Steve, and his widowed mother, Diane, as they navigate the ups and downs of their tumultuous relationship, with a little help from their benevolent neighbour, Kyla.

It’s a blistering and brutal rollercoaster ride filled with violence and anger, but a painful amount of love, too. If you don’t end up heartbroken and teary-eyed by the end of Mommy, then something has gone horribly wrong; don’t go into this expecting any kind of a happy ending. On a more positive note, you can watch this film for free on a couple of streaming services right now, such as Plex and Wedo TV.

Perhaps you want something a little less stressful now? The Last Black Man in San Francisco has similar themes to Anora, like wanting to find a better life or purpose, and there’s even a more literal, physical journey to be found at the core of the story, too. Thankfully, this one is a much calmer and poetic adventure than Anora. Instead of having you pulling your hair out, The Last Black Man in San Francisco is more likely to pull on your heartstrings and get you contemplating life.

Jimmie Fails shines in the lead role as a man desperate to reclaim his familial home from the gentrification of San Francisco. Along the way, he confronts class struggles, racial profiling, gang violence, and an identity crisis, but we promise it’s not too stressful. The Last Black Man in San Francisco is one of those rare movies that left me open-mouthed, stunned at the sheer beauty of what I’d just watched.

Pablo Larrain may be better known for crafting sublime period piece biopics about powerful women through history, like Jackie and Maria, but when he reverted to his native tongue in 2019 for Ema, he created something monumental and truly electric.

It’s a film that simply isn’t spoken about enough, and one of the greatest in a foreign language of the last decade. Ema tells the story of a severely broken relationship that erupts with tremendous ferocity through a shared trauma; you essentially get all the chaos of Anora, with ten times as much pain, but at least all that hurt has a gorgeous backdrop. If you’ve never given MUBI a try, now is the time to get a trial and make Ema your first watch on there.

Okay, we hear you, too much pain, suffering, and stress. Got it. So why not kick back and relax to some pure, unadulterated slapstick fun with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in Shane Black’s The Nice Guys? Truth be told, I will never miss a chance to talk about this movie, but I’m totally justified to do so on this occasion.

It’s the movie everyone on the Internet wants a sequel for, and we’re afraid we will never get that wish fulfilled. But the 2016 comedy is perfect just the way it is, and might just be the funniest film of the last ten years. The missing persons search at the heart of it all is just as much a wild goose chase as Ani’s search for Ivan in Anora, but it’s also hilarious watching Holland March and Jackson Healy stumble their way through the case. If you want a side-splitting comedy that’s under two hours, there are few better options than The Nice Guys.

Chances are, we could hook you in with just one sentence when it comes to Mandy. How about this: Nicolas Cage goes on a wild, neon-soaked, LSD-fuelled rampage in search of his wife’s killers and their demonic cult leader. If you’re still here and need more persuading, Mandy features a rip-roaring score from the late, great Jóhann Jóhannsson, the violence is gruesome and gnarly, and Nic Cage is at his untethered best in this absolutely savage yet oddly stunning revenge tale.

It’s safe to say Anora is a pretty lighthearted movie, aside from a few darker moments here and there. If you like that kind of balance, don’t let that promise of graphic violence put you off. Like any Nic Cage movie, there’s an undeniable wackiness and tongue-in-cheek, black comedy to this Panos Cosmatos picture.

Did someone say graphic nudity and sex scenes? Anora pulls no punches in its depiction of sex workers, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights is much the same in its handling of the amateur porn scene. And, just like Anora, this ‘90s classic has the perfect blend of humour and harrowing moments.

This is by far Mark Wahlberg’s best performance of all time, while the likes of Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Heather Graham all shine alongside him. It’s a long and sprawling epic (coming in roughly 15 minutes longer than Anora) that, at times, feels almost Tarantino-esque in the way the plot weaves and winds into one big messy web. So, make sure you’ve got plenty of time on your hands before you dive into this cult classic.

We couldn’t talk about amusing yet disorderly comedy-drama-thrillers without including a movie by the Coen Brothers, and it’s Burn After Reading that perhaps best embraces that genre mash-up. To be honest, you’d be hard-pressed to find many comedies as funny as this, and equally, there are not many crime capers as sharp or intriguing, either.

The stakes may be sky high in this story – with CIA secrets on the line – but the sheer silliness of the ensemble cast undercuts all the tension in such a brilliant way, and provides so many laugh-out-loud moments. Brad Pitt and John Malkovich are simply exceptional here as they let their comedic chops loose, and the haphazard plot they find themselves in is an ideal companion piece to the slightly more serious Anora. Plus, as an extra bonus, it’s just 96 minutes long, which is always a treat!