Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or Winner ‘Anora’ Scores Fall Release Date From Neon

Sean Baker's latest film, "Anora," a comedic exploration of an exotic dancer and sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, is set to hit theaters next fall. The movie will be released in limited theaters on October 18 by Neon.

This time of year has been fortuitous for the indie studio, which previously launched "Parasite" on October 11, debuted "Triangle of Sadness" on October 7, and opened "Anatomy of a Fall" on October 13. Like "Anora," these films premiered at Cannes and won the Palme d’Or, the festival's highest honor. "Anora" marks the first U.S. film to win the prize since Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" in 2011.

In a glowing review for Variety, Peter Debruge praised the film as the "uncut gem of this year’s Cannes competition," describing it as a "rowdy Safdie-style movie about two cultures (Russian and American), two languages (Russian and English), and two currencies (money and sex)."

"Anora" features Mikey Madison, known for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," alongside Mark Eidelstein, who delivers a standout performance as a drug-addled son of privilege, drawing comparisons to Timothée Chalamet. The cast also includes Yuriy Borisov, Karren Karagulian, and Vache Tovmasyan. Sean Baker is known for his work on "The Florida Project," "Tangerine," and "Bottle Rocket."

Neon is renowned for distributing "Parasite," which won the best picture at the Oscars. Other notable films from the company include Michael Mann's "Ferrari," Céline Sciamma's "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," and Laura Poitras' "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed." The company has released the five most recent Palme d’Or winners, with last year's winner, "Anatomy of a Fall," also receiving a best picture Oscar nomination and an award for its screenplay.

Read the whole article on Variety.