Anna is a young Russian woman who leaves poverty and an abusive partner behind. The KGB recruits her, trains her as a killer, and plants her as a fashion model in Paris. She runs missions for Russian handlers and later works as a double agent for the CIA. The plot jumps around in time as she tries to win her own freedom from both sides.
Viewers see a highly skilled woman who fights and outplays many male agents and bosses. Helen Mirren plays a senior female KGB leader who joins Anna against male agency power. Anna has an on-screen romance with fellow model Maude and also gets involved with male handlers. That same-sex relationship is clear on screen and raises the identity signal above a plain straight spy story. The film still centers on escape, beauty as a weapon, and double-agent games rather than a modern social-justice lesson.
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Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Anna.
Woke representation / casting
The lead is a highly skilled woman assassin who beats and outplays mostly male agents. Helen Mirren plays a senior female KGB boss. Casting otherwise fits a Russian and European spy setting with mainly white European leads. The Maude romance adds a clear same-sex pairing without diversity-marketing framing.
22%
Woke political dialogue
Talk centers on spy work, double-agent deals, and Anna wanting freedom from her handlers. A brief fashion-set insult that she answers with violence is a genre beat. It is not ongoing activist or identity-politics speech.
8%
Identity-driven story themes
The core plot is a personal-freedom assassin thriller in Besson’s Nikita style, not a social-justice tract. Female combat dominance and the Anna-Olga alliance against male agency power are built into the story. Anna’s romance with Maude is an explicit queer relationship that audiences can see, with bisexual behavior toward male handlers as well.
40%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Both the KGB and CIA break deals and treat agents as disposable. That is Cold War spy cynicism, not a lecture on modern Western culture or identity politics. An abusive boyfriend and sleazy fashion men are personal obstacles, not a full patriarchy thesis.
12%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Original screenplay, not an identity-driven rewrite of a known character, book, or historical figure.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. No meaningful right-leaning campaign called the film woke or forced-identity messaging. Debate focused on weak writing and action, Nikita comparisons, and Besson’s #MeToo scandal.
0%
Creator track record context
Luc Besson is framed as action and entertainment focused, not identity-first cinema. Listed producers and casting staff have no activist record. That supports a low creator-context score for this title.
18%
Production
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