With the Oscars just around the corner on March 2, the excitement is building. This year, several iconic movies are competing against each other for the coveted awards, making the race tougher than ever.
But, while the competition seems fierce with every nominee having a strong case to win, I believe there’s one name standing out quietly but powerfully. And it’s none other than Anora.
Despite the stiff competition, I believe it’s going to be hard to stop Sean Baker’s frenetic comedy Anora from winning the Oscar race. Well, it’s not just a gut feeling; when you look closely at the film’s impact and the number of awards and Oscar nods it has earned, Mikey Madison’s movie seems to have an upper hand in surprising everyone and taking home the trophy.
Anora has won the Critics Choice Award
Now that the Oscars are almost knocking at the door, everyone is talking about the usual suspects—big-budget blockbusters and star-studded dramas—to once again bag the golden award. But I seem to have a strong feeling that Sean Baker’s Anora is about to pull off something special.
At first glance, much like most people, although I overlooked Anora in favor of more traditional Oscar contenders, the film now seems to feel like a force to be reckoned with. Why won’t it, after all, Baker’s movie won a Critics Choice Award, and it is a big deal. Turning its win into an early indicator of how strong the film is, Anora caught my attention.
Considering how Oscar front-runners are determined by how well each movie does at all the smaller awards ceremonies leading up to the Oscars, Anora seemingly understood the assignment. Bagging the Best Picture at the 30th Critics’ Choice Awards, the movie became the first ever film to earn this honor without winning in any other categories.
Now, talking about the competition at the award ceremony—there were bigger, more hyped-up films in the mix, where Sean Baker’s indie gem stood tall. And despite the cut-throat award race, film critics honored Mikey Madison’s movie at the event. Well, I don’t know about you, but if critics are backing Anora, it means the film isn’t just popular; it’s genuinely great.
Although Mikey Madison lost Best Actress to Demi Moore, Sean Baker lost Best Director to Jon M. Chu and the film lost Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing awards, Anora still took home Best Picture. And in my opinion, this award indeed helped the film with a much-needed push. Because winning the Critics Choice Awards ensured people’s undivided attention and support towards the movie.
6 Oscar nominations for Sean Baker’s Anora
Well, if you’re still not convinced with Anora’s potential to win at the Oscars, then let’s start talking numbers. It’s one thing for a movie to be liked and appreciated by critics, but getting six Oscar nominations is a whole different level of recognition. Especially since the Academy isn’t known for throwing around nominations lightly.
So now, Anora is competing in major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, and Original Screenplay for Sean Baker. And let’s not forget Mikey Madison, whose performance in the film has earned her a well-deserved nomination for Best Actress. Not to mention, Yura Borisov became the first Russian actor to earn an Oscar nod in almost 5 decades.
Meanwhile, scanning through the full list of nominees, I knew this was the moment Baker’s movie officially became a serious Oscar contender. Now, while people might argue that even 6 nominations mean nothing because they don’t always guarantee a win—which is true—it certainly shows that the movie is a popular choice.
So according to my opinion, six nominations prove that Anora isn’t just an underdog—it’s a real threat in this race.
Sean Baker won the DGA Award and Palme d’Or for Anora
After winning the Critics Choice Award and landing 6 nominations, the next indicator for me was Anora‘s win at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award and the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Let’s begin with the DGA Award. At the 77th Directors Guild of America Awards, filmmaker Sean Baker won for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.
And guess what? Baker defeated Oscar front-runners like Jacques Audiard and Brady Corbet to take home the trophy. At this point, it felt like an epiphany that if Baker could win the DGA award against Oscar front-runners, then even his movie could create history at the biggest night in Hollywood, by taking home its deserving coveted award.
Further, Baker winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival—which is one of the most prestigious awards in cinema—became yet another promising sign for me that he could win Best Director at the Oscars as well. And if Baker wins the Oscar, it will surely boost Anora’s chances of winning Best Picture.
So now that Anora got recognition from both critics within the country as well as at the Cannes Film Festival, I can’t see the Academy overlooking the movie. Winning both the DGA Award and Palme d’Or seems to have put Sean Baker’s film in a prime position to at least take home Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars.
Anora became the front-runner after two films got sidelined
Sean Baker’s $6M indie about an outer-borough s*x worker is among the only two Oscar nominees with a perfect precursor record. The other is Emilia Pérez, the most-nominated film of the year, which now seems to have collapsed after controversies surrounding Karla Sofía Gascón’s offensive tweets.
Well, not just that. Apart from the major criticism surrounding the actress’ resurfaced tweets, Emilia Pérez also faced backlash for its inauthentic portrayal of Mexican culture and the trans experience. Meanwhile, although Anora faced a minor controversy for not using intimacy coordinators, it was later overshadowed by the other controversies in the 2025 Oscars race.
Another movie that was once considered a heavyweight contender thanks to Brady Corbet’s ambitious vision was The Brutalist. But surprisingly, even the movie that dealt with art, commerce, and the immigrant experience, got its momentum stalled after reports indicated that many Academy members hadn’t watched or finished it.
Not to mention, Adrien Brody’s movie also got marred by controversy surrounding the possible use of AI—not just for technical touch-ups, but for creative purposes, too. And since previously, Hollywood rallied against the use of AI in filmmaking, it might surely cost The Brutalist one of the world’s top prizes for artistic achievement.
If you asked me a few months ago, I would’ve said that Anora had a good chance, but it was still fighting an uphill battle. But now that two of the major films that were once seen as strong contenders lost their edge, the path seems to be wide open for Anora, and victory seems more likely for Mikey Madison’s movie.
I know some people might still be skeptical, but at this point, the writing is on the wall. Anora isn’t just in the race—it seems to be leading it. The movie not only has its previous awards to back it up, but has also earned the industry’s respect, and has garnered a growing wave of momentum.
Although I know that Oscar has a way of surprising at the last moment—believe me, if Anora wins, I won’t be surprised at all. I’ll just know that this underdog has finally got the recognition it deserves.
Anora is available to stream on PVOD on Prime Video and Apple TV.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
