Dare I say the best movie of 2024 is Anora? Anora is a 2024 American comedy-drama film in which the main character, Ani, or her real name, Anora Mikheeva, is a young exotic dancer from Brooklyn, New York. One day at work, she meets and spontaneously marries the son of an oligarch. However, their Cinderella fairytale is cut short when the news of their marriage reaches Russia, and her partner’s parents travel to New York to get the marriage annulled. This film was written, directed, and produced by Sean Baker, an American filmmaker of various independent feature films. Anora was released in theaters on October 18, 2024, by Neon. The film grossed over $41 million worldwide with its $6 million dollar budget. The movie has a rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is very high on the “Tomatometer”. 

On January 23, 2025, NEON Rated and Anora Films posted on Instagram that the movie had received six Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Actor in a Leading Role. Fans waited for the 97th Academy Awards show on March 3rd, 2025, to see what their favorite film would win.

These are the results: 

For Best Actress in a Leading Role 

• Winner: Mikey Madison (Anora) 

Nominees: 

• Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
• Karla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Pérez)
• Demi Moore (The Substance)
• Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here)

Mikey Madison has made history becoming the first actor who is Gen Z to win an Oscar for any of the categories. Here is her acceptance speech…

For Best Picture 

• Winner: Anora 

Nominees:

• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Wicked
• The Substance 
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• I’m Still Here
• Nickel Boys     The cast and crew went on stage to accept the award for Best Picture. 

For Best Film Editing 

• Winner: Anora (Sean Baker)

Nominees: 

• Wicked (Myron Kerstein) 
• Conclave (Nick Emerson)
• The Brutalist (David Jancso)
• Emilia Pérez (Juliette Welfling) 

The image below is Sean Baker accepting the award for Best Film Editing.

For Best Director

• Winner: Anora (Sean Baker)

Nominees:

• The Substance (Coralie Farget) 
• Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard) 
• The Brutalist (Brady Corbet) 
• A Complete Unknown (James Mangold)

The award was presented by Quentin Tarantino, who is an American author, director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed some pretty well-known movies, such as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Django Unchained, and Jackie Brown. Here is Sean Baker’s acceptance speech…

For Best Original Screenplay 

• Winner: Anora 

Nominees:

• The Substance 
• The Brutalist 
• September 5
• A Real Pain 

Overall, Anora led with five wins at the Academy Award Ceremony. Sean Baker won four Oscars, making him the first person to win four Oscars for the same film in the same year. Mikey Madison, who plays Ani or Anora Mikheeva in the movie, won one Oscar.