Anora, featuring Yuriy Borisov and Mikey Madison, is a film that captivated Cannes and the Hollywood Academy. However, if you want to see where Sean Baker started, his first major project, Take Out (2004), is worth checking out.
What Came Before Anora
This film, made on a shoestring budget, is shot in a "DIY" style, yet you can already see Baker’s signature techniques: documentary-style realism, immersion into the lives of ordinary people, and a focus on those striving for a better future while suffocating under harsh social conditions.
The protagonist is a Chinese migrant, Min Din, a delivery driver working in a New York restaurant. He delivers food in the rain, races against time to avoid fines, and listens to irate customers demanding sweet and sour sauce. But he has a much bigger problem: a debt to the people who helped him come to the United States. If he doesn't repay them on time, the consequences will be dire.
How Take Out Was Made
Baker and his co-writer, Shi-Ching Tsou, shot the film on a cheap video camera, using non-professional actors who didn’t even know they were part of the film — they were simply paid to walk through a door and pick up an order. The shooting locations were real apartments of illegal immigrants, restaurant kitchens, and the rainy streets of Manhattan.
This film doesn’t depict the Hollywood "American Dream," but instead reveals its true underbelly — survival on the brink of poverty. The same spirit is evident in Anora, but this time, the deliveryman is replaced by a stripper from Brooklyn, and the dirty streets of New York are swapped for the illusory glamour of Las Vegas.
As Baker himself says: "Unfortunately, 20 years later, there are still men and women like Min Din who fight every day to achieve that 'American Dream.'"
That’s why Take Out is worth watching for those who were moved by Anora. It’s not just the director’s origin story — it’s his manifesto, which he continues to explore in each new film. If you didn’t connect with Anora’s story, you’re likely to feel the same about his first feature. Baker sticks to his signature style and elicits the same emotional responses in all his stories.
