At the age of fourteen, I was already absorbing lessons about class, the commodification of women as mere accessories, the notion that men select partners based on external validation, and the inherently transactional nature of our relationships—even when we convince ourselves it is simply a matter of choice.

To preface, I had initially hoped to be obsessed with Anora; it would have been far easier to love it. Baker has been the new it boy director, and Mikey Madison is…