Movie: Anemone (2025)
Production Companies: Plan B Entertainment
Distributed by: Focus Features
Producer(s): Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
Directed by: Ronan Day-Lewis
Written by: Ronan Day-Lewis, Daniel Day-Lewis
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton
Review by: Stefano Todaro

We haven’t seen Daniel Day-Lewis on the big screen since 2017’s Phantom Thread; he decided to retire from acting. Fast forward to 2025, and Daniel Day-Lewis has made his triumphant return to film to be part of Anemone, directed and co-written by his son Ronan Day-Lewis. Along with a lead acting role, Daniel Day-Lewis co-wrote this film with Ronan. In Day-Lewis fashion, it didn’t take a big paycheck or a massive role to get him back in a film; it took his son and a role he knew he’d be able to own. It’s lovely seeing Daniel Day-Lewis work with his son on a passion project, but I wish that the end result had been grander.

Anemone tells the story of Jem, played by Sean Bean, visiting his hermit brother Ray, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, in the middle of the woods in Northern England. It’s made clear that Jem hasn’t seen his brothers in years, and he only learned of his exact location because of an emergency circumstance. Jem has a son, Brian, and a wife, Nessa, back at home. Brian nearly beat somebody to death; they said that if they hadn’t pulled Brian off that the victim would have surely died. After this violent episode, seemingly one of many, Jem found himself needing to see his brother Ray.

Jem appears at Ray’s hut in the middle of the forest, and no words are spoken for nearly a day. Their relationship is strained and appears unfixable. What happened between the two of them? To explain why these two brothers have become strangers would reveal key points to the plot. This mystery doesn’t feel too mysterious, however. Initially, you want to give kudos to a script that gives us hints and nuggets to help us uncover information, but it all feels too obvious and too simplistic for me to take the ultra-serious subject matter seriously. This is one of Anemone’s biggest shortcomings. The film looks ominous, montages suggest weight, and certain visuals suggest uncertainty, but it doesn’t add up to enough to match the impressive look and feel.

It feels pretentious to call something too obtuse, but Anemone’s obtuseness and abstractness at times make it that much more difficult to overcome its issues. While filled with some incredibly powerful monologues and conversations, too much of the content ends up being dull, and the story meanders. At a certain point, we know the answers to our questions, so we tirelessly wait for the next answer while we get taken in an unrelated and uninteresting direction. I also take issue with where Anemone ends. I think a more compelling story cuts out some of the meandering middle and shows us 20 more minutes after this film’s final shot.

As hard as I am on the film’s screenplay, it looks and sounds like a dream. The visuals, shot composition, lighting, and editing are impressive and just make me wish the story lived up to those elements. I also need to give Bobby Krlic his flowers for a powerful score. It did an impeccable job setting the tone for the film and ratcheting up the suspense. Maybe it was too good because the feeling the score invoked made me want more from the story. It feels like so much went into the vibe of Anemone, and other elements suffered because of it.

I finally want to talk about Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance. If there is any reason to watch Anemone, it’s for him. What’s important is the 7-year gap between performances. If you’ve been dying to see the master at work, there’s no doubt you should see him at work in Anemone because it’s been so long. Had this been a performance sandwiched between other, more frequent performances, it might be too tedious to recommend. He’s incredible in this film and further cements his legacy as one of the greatest film actors to ever live. His line delivery, even if the script isn’t great, is unmatched. Day-Lewis finds a way to perfectly balance the naturalism of conversation with stage acting. It’s so easy to fall into a trap of overacting, but he’s able to embody this character in a certain way that makes his line readings and monologues perfectly line up with how that character would express themselves. Day-Lewis gives two outstanding monologues, one early on that is outlandish and funny, and one later on that will break your heart.

Anemone is an interesting film in that there are failures and successes throughout, and it makes for a mostly disappointing final experience. I want to see this father-son duo succeed, and maybe this is just a jumping-off point for more projects in the future.

6.1/10

By: Stefano Todaro