The talk of Tinseltown, Sean Baker‘s Anora was hotly-anticipated ever since its glorious debut at Cannes. However, many might not have expected its limited release to have struck such a widespread chord, with the film becoming one of the more financially fruitful Palme d’Or winners. Currently, Anora has made over $12 million worldwide, split between $7 million domestically and $5 million in overseas markets. Its most recent weekend haul of $2.4 million was a 36% boost on its previous weekend’s total, proving that the hype surrounding Anora will continue to rise.

Thanks to this successful weekend, the film has now officially become the highest-grossing limited-release movie at the 2024 domestic Box Office. Anora has now overtaken the likes of Wicked Little Letters and Kinds of Kindness to take the top spot on the list, earning over $2 million more than its closest competitor. At this rate, Anora will continue to rise through the ranks as one of distributor Neon‘s highest-grossing movies ever.

‘Anora’ is One of the Films of the Year

As an effective comedy, chaotic cat-and-mouse chase, and touching character-driven drama, Anora quite literally ticks all the boxes. Well worthy of its Cannes top prize, Anora has made its way onto nationwide screens with a bang, with its translation from critical success to triumph with audiences the sort that many Palme d’Or winners struggle to obtain. This is likely thanks to the film’s ability to pull from many of its sparkling edges to find a balanced, hard-hitting final punch, beautifully taking a whirlwind journey and concentrating it into a lasting moment that is both thought-provoking and poetic. Truly one of the best endings of the year, many have spoken of just how moving Anora‘s last scenes are, including Collider‘s Chase Hutchinson, who said in his review:

“There will likely be comparisons made between this film and the work of the Safdie Brothers , with much of this middle feeling similar to Good Time , though it is in the downshift where Baker finds something distinct from that . Without taking away from its impact, one of the characters Ani rides around with comes increasingly into the forefront just as the wealthy world she found a way into fades away. We see how she responds with anger at this, throwing out hurtful insults as a way of coping, but eventually, she starts to fall more silent. It is this final stretch where the closing succession of scenes hit like a ton of bricks, proving to be a grim outcome in what could otherwise be a darkly chaotic romp. Gone are the excitement or thrills as the film becomes more reflective. As the characters’ vulnerability breaks through, we are left with them out in the cold. No matter what they do to try to keep warm together, the chilling and cruel realities of the world still won’t let them.”

Anora is now the highest-grossing limited-release movie at the 2024 domestic Box Office. You can catch the movie in theaters.

via Collider