★★★★☆
[First Watch]
The story and characters are fairly shallow, but overall it was a fun theatre-going experience. Everyone was cracking up throughout, and then the last five minutes pulled the rug and were a stark reminder of everything Ani has been through and has to carry with her.
She didn't love Vanya, but she grew up on Disney princess stories and was willing to take the chance at her own fairytale. It's a cautionary tale against those princess stories; so many people let go of their inhibitions and slip into a fantasy and end up losing a lot more in exchange for a lot less. Sadly, Ani really was just a prop for Vanya and he discarded her without a second thought. Her journey to find him was actually a journey in accepting that Vanya was her husband in the legal sense only and they had no true intimacy.
One scene that I can't gloss over is the discussion between Ani and Igor about why he didn't rape her. It really stuck out as being unnecessary and strange, but I wonder if it is meant to highlight something about Igor. He says "I'm not a rapist," but moments before he was arguing the difference between battery and assault and saying that he didn’t assault her. In the following scene, he allows her to "repay" him sexually and then tries to kiss her which she resists. Yes, he hasn't forced anything on her but does that mean that it was an entirely willing and eager encounter? Especially after all that she had been through, it was definitely not. Since Igor is presented as the foil to Vanya, my take-away continues to be that all men suck major ass.