The Movie That Inspired Anora

Before Sean Baker's wildly successful Anora, there was Federico Fellini‘s Nights of Cabiria (1957), which Baker has stated as a heavy inspiration for the 2025 Best Picture Winner. Both movies follow sex workers through triumphant highs and crushing lows while exploring themes of hope, class divisions, skewed power dynamics between genders, and complicated romantic relationships.

Spoilers for Anora and Nights of Cabiria

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Nights of Cabiria by Federico Fellini

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Unlike in Anora, where the movie opens by getting a glimpse into her daily life, we are thrown right into the destruction of Cabiria's. Cabiria is pushed into a river in an attempted murder while on a stroll by her boyfriend, who she discovers was only with her to steal her money. Cabiria isn't quick to believe he would do such a thing, establishing her character as one of hopefulness and resilience as she jumps right back into her life as if it hadn't happened.

This is where Anora's most deviates from Cabiria's. The primary story of Anora takes place over a one-day period in which Vanya, the man Anora has recently married, runs away after his parents demand the marriage to be annulled and send their staff after the couple. The weeks before were spent in an expensive bliss outside made possible by Vanya's parents' vast fortune. We watch as Anora begins to settle into life with Vanya in these fantastical circumstances, all before it comes crashing down. The extent of Anora's struggles in the film are contained in her relationship and circumstances surrounding Vanya, contrasting how we follow Cabiria through many ups and downs during the course of her story.

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Anora by Sean Baker

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Whereas Anora's humor comes from the increasing absurdity of the situation, Nights of Cabiria humor is found in Giulietta Masina's brilliantly crafted expressions. What Masina is able to achieve through her reactions alone is unbelievably impressive and charming. Watching her in this movie brought me levels of joy and despair that I didn't know was possible for a character I just met. Her facial expressions sold the movie in every possible aspect to me. More so than most, I was able to follow the movie through her perspective, from the absurdity and disbelief at the rich actor she meets to her joy in every one of the many times she dances. Her hesitant hopefulness when she believes she has found a second chance at love and the utter despair toward the ending when her life once again comes crashing down.

Despite nearly 70 years between the release of Nights of Cabiria and today, I found it extremely easy to connect to. As much as it is a film about loss, it is a film about hope and Cabiria's willingness to keep moving forward. I can scarcely remember when I felt as tense as I did in the final 10 minutes of the film as I realized that something was wrong. This cumulates in a helpless Cabiria, begging for her new lover to put her out of her misery as she is left with nothing once again. The end for both of these characters is equally bleak. Both end on masterfully impactful shots. A flicker of hope is shown in the final sequence of Nights of Cabiria as the film closes on a band marching around Cabiria a single tear falls down her cheek, and a slight smile on her face as she looks into the camera. Anora instead destroys any semblance of what could have been a happy ending, as in the film's final scene, we are left to sit with the bleak reality that Anora was never doing okay.

Final scene of Anora

Final scene of Nights of Cabiria