Poles apart - and not the dancing kind!

Anora won the 2024 Palme d’Or at Cannes and five out of six categories at the 2025 Academy awards including Best Original Screen Play and Best Film. Plus, it was nominated for a multitude of other awards and won its fair share. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an aggregated rating of 93%. That’s impressive. 

However, we disagree about What Went Right. I saw how the writer director crafted a pessimistic story arc combined with a negative character arc. Valerie believes that nothing went right in this movie because of the characters, dialogue, and lack of originality. If you’ve seen the movie, let us know what you think. -M

Submit your query letter and first 10 pages writing sample at storynerd.ca.

For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of training (all for free), subscribe to Valerie's Inner Circle.

To learn to read like a writer, visit Melanie's website.

To subscribe to Kat's Keynotes (Substack), click here.

Watch us on YouTube!