First, Ani and Igor spend one last evening together at Vanya’s parents’ mansion, before leaving when the banks open in the morning to collect Ani’s cancellation fees. They share a little conversation; Ani laughs that he probably wanted to rape her, because he has “rapist eyes”, but he wouldn’t do it anyway, because he’s not man enough. Igor is disconcerted. Then, the next morning, after they arrive at Ani’s house, he takes out the expensive wedding ring that Vanya had bought for him. Another award for commiseration, sure, but one of two truly nice things someone does for her in the entire movie, the other being when Igor defended her at the Vegas marriage bureau and insisted on that Vanya apologizes for what he did to her.

Her response is to climb on top of him, and they have calm, emotionless sex. It’s a strange twist that I interpret as Ani’s attempt to reclaim some sense of power; Ani uses sex dominate men everywhere Anorawhether it’s the strip club patrons she tricks into spending hundreds of dollars on VIP lap dances, or Vanya, who gets trapped in the fantasy she promises (until everything turns to shit). But when Igor tries to kiss her, she resists, before bursting into tears and collapsing into his arms. Then the credits roll, accompanied only by the sound of the car’s windshield wipers. It’s an abrasive ending that left me feeling emotional immediately afterwards. As I walked out of my Sunday night screening, I heard another audience member say something like, “The movie was great, but that ending was great.” SO awkward!” Which is true: it seems awkward, and I’m sure that’s the intention. But until the end, I had wanted Anora to give its titular hero the W she deserved.

Well, she gets small victories along the way: Igor’s empathy, the money, the alliance. Perhaps what Baker wants to question is our own naivety and the way movies have conditioned us to expect a romantic finale – even though we know that, in real life, this rarely happens like that. Does that excuse the fact that you felt a little empty at the end? Maybe it’s just in the eye of the beholder. Madison described the ending as a “Rorschach test” in conversation with The AV Club: “I’ve heard so many different interpretations, from very cynical to very romantic,” she said. For his part, Baker said he was deliberately open to interpretation, while refusing to offer his perspective (as filmmakers often do). But whether you love it or hate it, it Anora ends on such an abrasive note seems to be the point.

This story was originally published in British GQ.