Review: Anemone (2025) — Fathers, Sons and Shakespearean Scat

★★★

“Our inheritance.”

The last test for a great thespian might just be if they can carry a flawed film to some sort of grace. Or describe taking a shit with the cadence, enthusiasm and tongue of Shakespeare. In this case, Daniel Day-Lewis does both. Exiting retirement again for his son’s debut feature, the grand shapeshifter turns in yet another remarkable performance — anchoring an otherwise very grad school flick.

From start to finish Anemone is an intriguing mess, drifting wildly between conversation piece, music video montage, freaky-cool psych surrealism and anticlimax. Its fractured father/son structure dances around themes of masculinity, abuse and cycles of violence; only really feeling at home in observing the effects of war years after the final bullet is fired.

DDL’s woodsy recluse Ray Stoker is by far the highlight of the movie. As we follow a visit from brother Jem (Sean Bean), on a mission to get Ray to emerge from deadbeat dad hibernation and talk to his young, troubled and violently emo son Brian, a compelling portrait of a soldier slowly emerges. Ray’s experiences as a British grunt in Northern Ireland during the Troubles unfold one piece at a time, beginning with an opening long take over a panoramic view of events via kid’s drawing and periodically immersing us in monologue thereafter.

Watching DDL work the language and physicality of Ray is simply stunning — drawing us to his complexity and pain with the most human of details. The anger and humor in Ray’s priest story is electric, rivaled only by the raw emotion in his final act recounting of a killing that would break and reshape him as a man, husband and father.

Not sure we needed the sheer amount of Day-Lewis/Bean communal teeth brush jams to classic rock, mad slo-mo synth dancing and impromptu fistfights to get to that good stuff, but can’t say I didn’t enjoy them as well. Anemone is, intentionally or not, funny as hell in certain sequences — creating a nice break/buffer for the heavier moments.

The weakest part of the narrative is when we cut away from the grumpy bros. Samuel Bottomley and Samantha Morton are more than invested in Brian and his mother Nessa, but the writing isn’t — giving them halfhearted dramatic scenes that don’t flesh out their psychology the same.

Who are they past their connection to Ray? If it’s his story, why are they given this much screen time? And would a contemporary Brit soldier really care about Ray’s actions years earlier enough to bully Brian about it? Also, given the sectarianism of war (and that one in particular), wouldn’t they be high-fiving him at the ground level for it? Some of the latter is probably my own ignorance on details. I found the Catholic touches an interesting contradiction, and need to read more on that from the Brit side.

The script, credited to both Ronan Day-Lewis and Papa Bear Day-Lewis, shows the seams between the two quite often. I get the sense that DDL penned those phenomenal monologues, and maybe even the weirder/clunkier exchanges between Ray and Jem, and that Ronan handled the Brian/Nessa scenes and dips into hallucinatory reverie.

If this was cut to just the former, it would still have some rough patches but would’ve worked much better. As a two dudes in a cabin flick, this is pretty boss — with the occasional WTF audience slap to keep us frosty. All the padding and noodling does eventually add up though, dragging Anemone’s 125 minutes and never arriving at a cohesive vibe.

Ronan’s skills as a visual storyteller should be noted however. When he’s not giving us a PTA wink, his compositions and movement of the camera are effective and personal — frequently revealing small nuances of character in gesture and atmosphere. DP Ben Fordesman’s zen to gothic autumn palette backs this wonderfully, taking us inside Ray’s head even further.

Meanwhile the Bobby Krlic score creates a staticky, post-grunge womb for its actions and inactions; as moody, jagged and oddly cleansing for the story as the final act’s shameless deus ex hail stormchina. This is exactly the kind of shit I listen to when I’m alone in the woods, feeling as indifferent and comforting as the trees themselves.

Overall a promising, albeit very befuddled, first for Ronan and eagerly welcomed return for Daniel. If the family collab continues though, I just hope they get another screenwriter involved.

Side notes —
-On your DDL Bingo Card, mark manly dude swinging tool introduction and getting the giggles at the wretchedness of humanity.
-If Ronan was going to rip off Magnolia anyway, why not have Day-Lewis and Bean singing Aimee Mann?
-My grandpa had that same Ray Stoker horseshoe stache, and if I make it to 50 I see no other look in my future.

Where to watch Anemone.

Follow me on Letterboxd for daily reviews, lists and fun.