What do the following films have in common: , , , , and ? A few things, actually: they’re all excellent movies that you should watch (especially the one about , and then becomes pregnant with the car’s baby); they were all distributed by Neon; and they’re the last five winners of the Cannes Film Festival’s highest prize, the Palme d’Or. However, of the first four, only one also won Best Picture at the Academy Awards: . Could be next? stars as a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, played by Mark Eidelstein.
It was written and directed by Sean Baker, who should have received loads of nominations from the Oscars for his last two films, (emphatic, devastating, unforgettable) and (a brilliantly prickly depiction of the Trump era without being explicitly about Trump). But both were snubbed. It does not appear history will repeat itself with .
Outside of the Palme d’Or, was also the second runner-up for the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. That might sound like a minor achievement, but the last film to pull of the same feat was . As film critic David Ehrlich , “I’m the worst Oscar prognosticator in the world but I choose to believe this means something.
” believes it does, too; is listed among the frontrunners to receive a Best Picture nomination at the 2025 Oscars. So does , , , and . That’s a strong showing for a movie from the guy who created about a sex worker.
About that: it’s not that the Oscars have ignored depictions of sex workers (or “call girls,” among other less-progressive terms) in the past. Julia Roberts was nominated for , for instance, as was Elisabeth Shue for . Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Fonda even won for and , respectively.
Heck, the first Best Actress winner ever was Janet Gaynor, who in 1928’s . But none of those films were nominated for Best Picture (even if should have been). So why does have a chance if the Academy also hasn’t been receptive to Baker’s work in the past? It checks a lot of boxes: is and But most of all, it’s and in a year without an undeniable phenomenon like , that could be enough to put it over the top for Best Picture (see: and ).
Anora, the character, is impossible to not root for, and on January 17, 2025, when the Best Picture nominations are announced, a lot of people will be rooting to hear her name..
