“I don’t speak Russian, but I understand it.” The line hits me like a gut punch as the first act of director Sean Baker‘s new movie Anora unfolds. It’s a line purred, albeit reluctantly, by the titular protagonist, Anora (Mikey Madison), a Russian-speaking, Uzbek-American sex worker—who prefers to be called the more Americanized nickname Ani—as her boss at a Manhattan strip club asks her to meet a new client: Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the twenty-something son of a Russian oligarch. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] This line kicks into gear a modern Cinderella story gone horribly wrong (spoilers ahead): a torrid affair between Ani and Ivan (Vanya, for short) that explores systems of power, safety, love (ultimately), and the Russian diaspora of New York City. It’s also a line I know well; I have said it more times than I can count.