‘Anora’ stars left stunned with ‘unexpected’ win at major event

Anora stars and team were left in sheer shock as the micro budget, independent movie beat out other mega movies.

At the 2025 Critics Choice Awards the Sean Baker-directed movie nabbed the coveted award of the night: Best Picture.

The award winning film was up against Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo starring Wicked, The Substance, Bob Dylan's biopic starring Timothee Chalamet A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, Nickel Boys, Conclave, The Brutalist, and Sing Sing for the night's biggest prize..

 The director went on the stage along with the Anora team including the star Mikey Madison, 25, to receive the award.

"So unexpected," he began. "So unexpected. Thank you. Critics' Choice, thank you so much."

Baker, 53, went on to express gratitude to all the film critics and professionals who praised the film, "it means everything in the world."

Reflecting on his team's dedication despite its limited budget the filmmaker continued, "Thank you guys so, so much. We made this little film. It was $6 million. That's micro budget these days."

"And that all happened because of my incredible cast and crew who roughed it up and we put every dollar up on that screen," he added.