Anemone Review: Daniel Day-Lewis’ Return Is Dark Powerful, And Profound

This is perhaps a little overzealous to say, but I never believe it when an artist says that they are retiring. If a true talent exists, I don’t think that the artistic impulse can simply be flicked off like a switch; real passion cannot be killed, and the urge to create cannot be permanently ignored. Case in point: I was never convinced that Daniel Day-Lewis’ final performance was going to be in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 film Phantom Thread, and with the creation and arrival of Anemone, I am thrilled to be proven correct, as the legendary actor has not lost an ounce of his dramatic skill and gravitas in the last eight years, and his turn in the film is simply phenomenal.

A story about fathers and sons fittingly co-written by the three-time Oscar winner and his son, first-time director Ronan Day-Lewis, the film is an onion: it presents as being very simple, but the progression of the story peels back layers and unveils something potent below. You can count all of the characters on one hand, and it volleys back and forth between just two principal locations, but it’s lean, raw, and powerful, and the script demands exceptional the performances that it gets from not just Day-Lewis but also Sean Bean, Samuel Bottomley, and Samantha Morton.

misery. This is in part a tribute to the tonal complexity of the film’s script – a perfect example of this being a disgusting tale of scatological revenge that Ray tells… about getting back at an elderly priest who sexually abused him as a child. (You truly do not know whether to laugh or cry.) Another part of this is the film’s remarkable beauty, as Jem and Ray spend their days ensconced in stunning forests and running along expansive beaches. And then there is the tremendous cast doing tremendous work.

Daniel Day-Lewis alone is worth the price of admission, but the entire cast is spectacular.

The intimacy of the work demands actors who melt into their roles, and the stars prove up to the challenging task. It will surprise nobody to learn that Daniel Day-Lewis is the showstopper, in the grand scheme injecting his character with pathos as powerful as his spite, but Sean Bean is a powerful pilot for the emotional journey, not only drawing out Ray’s truth emotionally but confronting him physically.

Samuel Bottomley and Samantha Morton are brilliant in their own right on the other side of the plot. The former effuses a lifetime of confusion and pain in his eyes and hung shoulders, long tortured by both his father’s absence and left behind reputation, while the latter offers a potent blend of love and fear, wanting what is best for her son but having many questions of her own about why Ray left.

Anemone is worth seeing for the return of Daniel Day-Lewis alone, as he is a singular artists and one of the most gifted men to ever perform in front of a camera. But the bonus is that he and his son also happen to make tremendous collaborators and have together made a movie that is deep, challenging, beautiful, dark and ultimately optimistic.