Daniel Day-Lewis’s return is drowned out by an undisciplined narrative and the nagging reality of a director out of his depth.
★★☆☆☆
After his ‘retirement’ from acting post Phantom Thread (a transcendent performance to bow out on) in 2017, Daniel Day-Lewis has been convinced to return to acting. By whom you ask? His son, painter-by-day Ronan Day-Lewis, trying his hand at this filmmaking thing. Unfortunately for the younger Day-Lewis, Anemone stinks of reverse-nepotism, a project birthed only thanks to the helping hand of his generationally talented father. Daniel Day-Lewis stars, produced and co-wrote the script with his son for this overstuffed tale of repressed male trauma taken to a point of incoherence. It was worth a try, but Ronan may want to stick to the painting for the foreseeable.
The film follows Ray Stoker (Daniel Day-Lewis), a former army veteran hiding from his demons and his family in a repressive, isolating cabin in Northern England. He’s shut himself off from society and buried his resentments towards his brother Jem (Sean Bean) and ex-wife Nessa (Samantha Morton), who are now together themselves. Jem and Nessa live a quiet and dour life in a small, grey house with their troubled son Brian (Samuel Bottomly), who is in fact Ray’s son by birth. There’s a sense his brother has stolen the life he never wanted, but that doesn’t mean he’s not bitter—and about to let him know about it. So, when Jem decides to visit Ray out in his cabin for a reconciliation or reunion of sorts they clash, spill secrets and bond in a sticky stew of words. It’s about as subtle as a bullet to the head.
There’s an unfortunate sense that the trio of lead actors are way overqualified for the material. Daniel Day-Lewis is magnificent but wasted, delivering countless turgid, existential monologues. There’s no attempt at subtlety or composure, and the script plays like a first draft. His weathered face and expressive talent tell a thousand tales; it’s a shame he literally tells us everything we need to know. This overblown exposition is then strangely paired with a magical realist streak, dream worlds and mythical imagery misplaced in what is otherwise a weighty, gritty drama. It doesn’t merge, and ends up confusing and indulgent.
Jem and his wife have a heavily religious streak that’s both underexplored and overplayed. The two British acting legends are typically excellent, but Morton is separated from the brothers the entire film. Her character feels manufactured and perhaps unnecessary, simply there to bring another great name to the poster. It feels like Ronan Day-Lewis asked them all at dinner to please be in his film and they said, “come on, let’s do it for Daniel’s boy”.
The film tries to liken the absence of God to the Northern Irish troubles, but the stark difference is obvious and left on the wayside to continuously jump back and forth from different themes. Like all its themes the film doesn’t know how deep to delve. Religion, war and angst feed off each other but the weight of the troubles aren’t treated with any nuance or subtle introspection and again treated as more of a vehicle for the acting.
Ronan Day-Lewis is bold but sloppy in his execution when trying to articulate his themes through his camerawork. He barely keeps the camera still and opts for showy tricks – at one point we pull back from the brother’s woozy drunken dancing and the cabin is literally cut in half. Bobby Krlic’s oppressive score, often randomly deployed, dazzles in certain scenes but jars in others.
Ray’s guilt both from his soldier past and abandoning his child are the prevalent themes that come to a head in a predictable finale. The emotional punches aren’t earned, and Anemone falls flat as it tries to be profound.
The Verdict
Anemone has flashes of magic and an incredible acting showcase but there’s not an ounce of restraint in sight. With a predictable finale and emotional punches that fall flat, Anemone is less than the sum of its parts.
Words by Oscar Aitchison