Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Anora:
Babygirl
25 years after co-starring in Eyes Wide Shut, Nicole Kidman revisits similar thematic territory in Halina Reijn’s Babygirl, another holiday-set exploration of lust, power, and dissatisfaction. In Babygirl, she plays Romy, a high-powered tech CEO whose meticulously crafted life seems perfect on the surface. With a doting husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas), two well-adjusted children, and a dreamlike home, Romy appears to have it all. Yet, beneath this pristine façade, she is deeply unfulfilled, yearning for something—or someone—to awaken her buried fantasies.
Poor Things
At the heart of Poor Things is Emma Stone‘s exceptionally dedicated performance, making a compelling case for her second Oscar for Best Actress. Her willingness to embrace daring characters and collaborate with auteurs like Yorgos Lanthimos reinforces her status as one of the industry’s leading performers.
No Hard Feelings
No Hard Feelings feels like a shot in the arm for studio comedies – a subgenre in desperate need of *something* to revive it. Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman both star, and carry with them completely different perspectives of maturing emotionally.
Babylon
Damien Chazelle announces himself as the antichrist with Babylon – a film focused on the fake it til you make it side of the industry, and Chazelle might just be faking it after all. I’ll be tossing and turning in my head for months about whether he deserves the ending that he presents, because he’s having his cake and eating it to with that final montage, but at least along the way he also throws it up and laughs at you for thinking he’d do anything else. I love it.
The Florida Project
The Florida Project isn’t just one of Sean Baker’s best films—it’s a modern indie masterpiece that has solidified itself as one of the defining movies of the 2010s. Released by A24 in 2017, it’s a stunningly poignant slice-of-life drama that immerses the audience in the sun-drenched but deeply flawed world of its characters. For me, this movie came at the perfect time, when I was just beginning to see film as more than entertainment and started engaging with it as an art form. It wasn’t just a gateway into Sean Baker’s career; it was a revelation that reshaped how I thought about storytelling on screen.
Saltburn
Emerald Fennell‘s sophomore movie, Saltburn, emerges from the rubble of her polarizing debut, Promising Young Woman, with a cast that elevates the material despite its endlessly convoluted and plainly put narrative. This comedy-drama-thriller hybrid film weaves a perplexing tale of obsession, deception, and tragedy within the confines of the aristocratic Catton family’s titular estate.
Blue Velvet
If for nothing else, Blue Velvet serves as a key to unlock the filmography of David Lynch, as if every subsequent movie would take bits and pieces from Blue Velvet and expand them into their own ideas and themes. It’s cryptic, morally ambiguous, and set in the heart of a deep underbelly within small town life. The film is beguiling as hell, and even features many of Lynch’s recurring actors and actresses, led by Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern. The movie isn’t as nearly as cut-and-dry as its noir elements suggest and its contemporaries often were, and it seems that public consensus has only further improved since Blue Velvet‘s release in 1986.
Red Rocket
The challenges for viewers with Red Rocket will come from the subject matter. Some might walk out within the first ten minutes, while others may be shocked but impressed as they leave the theater. I fall into the latter category. Red Rocket is entertaining, hilarious, and brilliantly crafted by a director who continues to push boundaries and create fresh, innovative art.
Fair Play
Fair Play is a commendable directorial debut from Chloe Domont, a film that sizzles with tension and passion right from its Sundance origins early in 2023. With stellar performances, especially from Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich, the movie navigates the intricacies of love and power with finesse.
Prince of Broadway
Sean Baker’s Prince of Broadway serves as a fascinating blueprint for the themes and techniques he would later refine in his career. As Baker’s second feature, the movie provides an early look at his distinctive ability to blend chaos, intimacy, and authenticity into his storytelling. It’s a work that feels vital, a glimpse of an auteur beginning to explore the layers of the human experience through characters navigating the margins of society.
READ MORE: Anora (2024)
