Do we really need the sex-positive view of sex workers, written, directed and edited by a man? Sean Baker’s “Anora” enamored audiences and critics at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or, but it hasn’t won my heart. The film is about a young sex worker who marries a young rich client and follows her foul-mouthed struggle to hang on to her Cinderella dream.

Baker lost me almost immediately with his soft-porn opening. Near naked, firm young female derrieres are displayed to arouse the heterosexual male audience members. These nubile women are pleasuring their clients. Anora who goes by Ani (Mikey Madison) is an erotic dancer at the Headquarters strip club. Although she hotly denies she is a prostitute this 23-year-old Russian American is willing to have sex for money. The Russian American lucks into an easy payday, a series of sexual dates with the 21-year-old Vanya because she speaks and understands some Russian. Vanya is supposed to be studying, but prefers to party in his family’s Brooklyn mansion.

Vanya pays Ani to work for him for a week which includes a trip to Las Vegas where Vanya and Ani get married. Vanya hopes for a green card which will allow him to escape his parents, but when the news gets to his parents, Vanya flees, leaving Ani behind. There’s a lot of fighting, cursing and screaming, but ultimately the parents win. Vanya has no income, no marketable skills and no plan. Being a wealthy heir to a dynasty is a fairytale and being a prince isn’t really a vocation. Even when it was, it sometimes involved some bloody, brutal work and political machinations. Vanya isn’t ready to be more than a spoiled pet.

There is a lot of simulated sex and you’ll get a brief glance of a penis. This is nothing shocking, but although the supposed protagonist is the titular character, we learn almost nothing about her and how she got where she is. Drew Daniels cinematography is androcentric, the practiced visuals of the male gaze. We never see how Ani as a woman might view the men, including those whom she’s had sex with. What does she find sexually arousing or sexually repulsive? She claims, she loves Vanya, but why? Is it only for his money?

If Baker’s intent is to remove the stigma from sex workers, seeing them all as young women and all attractive young women seems callow at best.

Baker hired former escort and erotic dancer Canadian Andrea Werhun, who wrote a 2018 memoir “Modern Whore,” as a consultant. Werhun got out and she also likely benefited from the Canadian health care system. Not all sex workers are young and beautiful and some get into the trade as minors.

One study indicated that 21% of the women entered the sex trade before they were 18. For women entering the trade between 18 to 25, the percentage was 39% and an additional 39.6% entered when they were older than 25. “Individuals who entered as minors were also much more likely to be HIV positive.”

As with “Poor Things,” this film ignores biological oppressors that bring stigma to prostitution. According to the World Health Organization, female sex workers are 30 times more likely to have HIV than other women of the same age and 36% of female sex workers likely have HIV. In NYC, a study of incarcerated female sex workers show that female sex workers have higher rates of chlamydia (6.8%), gonorreha (12.4), syphilis (1.8%) and HIV (9%).

• Female sex workers incarcerated in New York City jails: prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and associated risk behaviors
• Improving Awareness of and Screening for Health Risks Among Sex Workers
• Sex    Workers (World Health Organization)

Sexually transmitted diseases are not a thing of the past. Recently a former NFL player was accused of intentional infecting women with herpes.

• Former NFL player intentionally infected woman with incurable STD, lawsuit says (12 December 2024)

• Miami Dolphins player sued for giving genital herpes to partner (13 February 2024)

Even if one wants to view “Anora” as a more realistic Cinderella story than “Cinderella” or “Pretty Woman” and remind everyone that fairytales don’t always end happily ever after, in Cinderella, including the Disney animated feature and its live-action remake, we know more about Cinderella than her prince. Here it is the Russian “prince” whose background is filled out and it’s his male gaze or a male gaze that dominates this film.

“Anora” premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival and was released in the US by Neon on 18 October 2024. It was named a top 10 film of 2024 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. It is also nominated for Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Director.

In English, Russian and Armenian with English subtitles.