Even the laziest person has already shared their opinion on Sean Baker's Oscar-winning film Anora. The movie has completely reshaped perceptions of independent cinema and made history by winning four Oscars in a single night. Moreover, it has opened doors for its actors — Mikey Madison took home an Oscar, Mark Eldeinstein has been dubbed "the Russian Timothée Chalamet," and even Robert Downey Jr. himself forecasted a bright future for Yura Borisov from the Dolby Theatre stage.
Yet, two secondary — but very significant characters in Anora, Toros and Garnik, have remained in the shadows, despite being on screen for nearly the entire film. Almost no one discusses them, but without their performances, Anora would undoubtedly feel incomplete.
As is well known, Anora is a multilingual film featuring English, Russian, and Armenian. While English and Russian dialogues are widely understood, Armenian slang remains less accessible to international audiences. Subtitles alone fail to fully convey the richness of the Armenian dialogue.
But language is just one aspect of cultural representation. Take, for example, the scene where Toros baptizes a relative's child in an Armenian church, as Armenian evangelical music plays — only to be interrupted by a phone call. Upon hearing about the incident with Ivan, he drops everything and rushes off to resolve it with Garnik.
A unique element of the film is the Armenian slang and expressions used by the characters. Garnik, for instance, tries to explain the seriousness of the situation to Ivan in a soft but firm manner, frequently using the Armenian phrase "jan"— which literally means "body," but in colloquial speech translates to "dear" or "my dear Ivan."
Toros and Garnik often refer to each other as "aper," meaning "bro" in Armenian slang. Another common phrase they use, if translated literally, would be "my father’s sun"— yes, you heard that right. But in context, it means something akin to "I swear on my father's name," often used to express extreme emotions like joy, anger, surprise, or desperation.
Of course, Armenian profanity is also present in the film, and not sparingly — but we'll skip over that part.
One particularly amusing scene occurs when Ennie kicks Garnik in the nose, breaking it. As he searches for ice, he ironically remarks, "Rich people do not have ice." Instead, he finds a bag of frozen dumplings in the freezer — a subtle cultural reference, as dumplings (pelmeni) are a staple of Russian cuisine.
In an interview with an Armenian media outlet, actor Karen Karagulian (Toros) revealed that all the Armenian dialogues with Vache Tovmasyan (Garnik) were improvised. This is what happens when two Armenians meet and are given complete freedom to express themselves.
Karagulian is no newcomer to Baker's films — the two have been friends for years, and the actor has appeared in several of the director’s works. He even co-wrote Anora with Baker. It was Karagulian who suggested casting Vache Tovmasyan as Garnik — a caricatured petty thug (a hustler), and Toros's right-hand man. Unlike Karagulian, Tovmasyan had never acted in an international film before. In Armenia, he was a well-known comedian, and his talent for making people laugh served him well in the role.
Garnik is a typical hustler — eager to please his bosses and willing to do any dirty work they assign him. In this regard, he is much like Toros. Neither of them struggles with moral dilemmas or a sense of justice, unlike Igor (Yura Borisov), who, deep down, sympathizes with Anora (Mikey Madison). They are, in essence, superficial characters. Ivan sums them up best in the film: "They are my father’s monkeys."
Interestingly, reactions to the film in Armenian communities have been divided. Some viewers criticized it for reinforcing stereotypes — depicting Armenians as thugs, criminals, and hustlers. Others, however, urged people to move beyond patriotic and regional sensitivities and simply enjoy the fact that Armenian culture was represented on an Oscar-winning international stage.
In the end, who is without flaws? Garnik and Toros are not deep, multi-dimensional characters — they are merely the hands and feet of the Russian oligarch they fear and obey. Toros is the leader, while Garnik clumsily carries out his orders, often making mistakes and then scrambling to justify himself. Still, they are not devoid of humanity. They don’t harm Anora — if anything, she causes them more trouble than they do her. Midway through the film, they even seem to develop a grudging tolerance, perhaps even sympathy, for each other.
Ultimately, these characters add a grounding realism to the film. They exist in a space between the reckless, spoiled Ivan and the contemplative, justice-driven Igor.
With Anora, a new chapter in cinema has begun. It is safe to say that independent filmmaking is being recognized once again — and that it has every chance of winning major international awards in the future.
