The Final Scene in Anora and the Theme of Consent

Director Sean Baker’s Anora was a dazzling dark comedy and romance that left me, and my theater, oscillating between audible laughs and moments of pensive silence. Mikey Madison stunned as the title character, Ani, and placed herself firmly in a pole position come awards season. It was, without a doubt, excellent and deserving of its praise (though maybe not one you want to go see with your parents). 

It started hot, carried momentum through the middle, and then stuck the landing with a thoughtful and powerful final scene. For an explanation of that final snowy moment in the car — as I heard many leaving the theater with bits of confusion — I would recommend this article from IndieWire. What I want to do, though, is dive into the theme of consent throughout the film, and how it led to the emotionally poignant ending to the film.

Anora — Ani, as she would prefer it — is a stripper and sex worker in Brooklyn. She communicates, rewards, punishes, and lives through sex. And in her trade, though looked down upon by the masses, requires such delicate treatment of consent. Consent is the lynchpin holding it all together. The sex worker, and patron, must consent to each other’s services — yes, with payment, but that is consent nonetheless. Consent, in turn, is very important to Ani.

In the beginning, you see her leading people around the club. At each turn she asks, in her thick Brooklyn accent, “Do you want to go upstairs?”, “Do you want a VIP room?”, and more. She asks what they want, and they oblige their consent. 

Once she begins her time with Ivan Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), or “Vanya,” she still ensures both sides consent to everything. Whether it is sex, drugs, or being paid $15,000 to be his girlfriend for the week, both parties agree — sealing the latter with a closeup shot of a formal handshake. 

While she is willing to give away her body, it is only on her terms that she will ever do it.

Then, in act two, when Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov) prevent her from running out of the house with Vanya, she experiences the loss of her consent. This is when we first see the effects it has on her. She screams, she fights, she throws things, she bites, and she breaks Garnick’s nose with a powerful kick. She becomes difficult for even these two large men to handle. 

Specifically, she is most distraught over being tied up. It takes away her freedom to move, and rouses the largest reaction from her. It also isn’t a coincidence that the director Baker puts Ani in compromising positions while Igor is restraining her. This is displaying that the tying, the theft of consent, is a “rape” of Ani and her values. That view of “rape” and the situation returns later in the film.

Also in that scene, after Toros (Karren Karagulian) arrives, comes the gag. This, like the wrist restraints, takes away Ani’s consent and sends her spiraling. Now, it’s important to remember Baker’s films are often about sex and sex work. While restraints and gags could be utilized in a consensual — let’s call it “kinky” or “sexy” — manner, it is likely deliberate that Baker chooses these actions and items to display Ani’s loss of power and the removal of her ability to consent. Tools that she may use in her work, that typically give her power and control — think about when she asks Vanya to sit on his hands in the VIP room in order to restrain them — are being used against her in a non-sexual, nefarious way.

Ani is also very assertive about both her and Vanya agreeing to the marriage in Las Vegas. She doesn’t want it to be one-sided. This isn’t just for emotional reassurance. Ani does not like giving any part of herself without something, including the other person’s willingness, in return.

Then, of course, there is the theme of consent that comes with the marriage annulment. Ani does not want it, and she is being blackmailed and bribed into accepting the annulment. Then, in a display of power, she takes consent back. By choosing to accept the annulment, even welcome it, she takes back her power. This shows from the change in her timid and teary-eyed disposition when dealing with Vanya’s mother, ​​Galina Zakharov (Darya Ekamasova), in the jet hangar compared to the vengeful and defiant one when signing the divorce papers. Baker shows us this by having Ani in the power position, standing, while Galina remains seated at a lower level.

We then return to the Zakharov mansion, this time with Ani and Igor. They share a few moments, but the one that sticks out is when she asserts that Igor could have raped her when she was tied up. He asks why he would do that, and Ani asserts that he has “rape eyes.” Igor says he wouldn’t have done that because he’s “not a rapist.” Ani keeps pressing him, calling back to a scene in a diner, and says he didn’t rape her because he’s a “faggot-ass bitch.” This is Ani basically saying anyone who liked women and had those desires, would have taken her. 

It’s a way for her to assert her power over him, but also I think it’s a way that Ani was coping with the situation. As I’ve asserted, the entire film explores Ani’s consent being taken from her. As a sex worker, Ani has power during sex. She is in control. In that moment, being tied up, she felt violated without her consent. In a way, adding sex into the equation — in her experience — would have given her back some power. This is not to say Ani would have “wanted” to have actually been raped — of course not. But this is Ani reflecting on the experience, trying to take back power from it, now with someone who she at least remotely trusts in Igor.

Then we come to the final scene. The divider of consent, sex, power, and emotion in the film. After Igor gives Ani her ring back, nicked back from Toros’ pocket, she gets emotional. It was a gesture that meant a lot to her. To thank Igor, she does what she knows: She initiates sex. She climbs on top of him, slips off her bottoms, reclines his seat as far back as it goes, and begins to have sex with him. As this moment swells, Igor reaches up and grabs the back of her head and neck, trying to bring her in to kiss her. This breaks her boundaries, and she resists while he pulls her in closer, and then Anora breaks down sobbing. Igor holds her tight in comfort, Anora crying until the screen cuts to black.

It’s a powerful moment. My theater was silent. It punctuated all the dark themes in the movie that were covered up by well-delivered comedy. It was a punch straight into the heart, demanding you reflect on everything that just happened.

And so I reflected. And with the theme of consent throughout the movie, I think this is the moment that drives it all home.

“We’re playing with different themes, and one of them is consent,” Baker said of the final scene. “And when he then tries to kiss her in that moment, that’s crossing a line for her. It’s like, ‘No, I’m in control of this moment.'”

Consent isn’t just about sex, it’s about everything. It’s about what people have the power to agree and not agree to, and sometimes that’s sex, but sometimes it’s movement, sometimes it’s kissing, sometimes it’s marriage, and sometimes it’s just an emotional barrier. I think Baker and Anora leave us with something to continue thinking about, to reflect on the power of consent and its ability to shape people’s lives. It is something to be taken seriously, in all aspects of life, and a theme that makes Anora what it is.