Anemone Movie Review

The synopsis says this film explores the complex and profound ties that exist between brothers, fathers, and sons. Daniel Day-Lewis, one of the most revered actors in the world, resurfaces from the retirement he entered eight years ago to work with his son on this project. ​

They, he and his son Ronan Day-Lewis, wrote the script. Ronan directs, and Daniel, as Ray, takes on the lead role in the film. The story is about family, so why not go complete nepotism?

Regardless, the revelations have his fan base all jittery to see what a new project will bring. They may be slightly disappointed. If they’re fans of the more “artsy” pictures or the arthouse style of filmmaking, with unconventional films featuring soul-searching, brooding characters, this couldn’t be better for them. Sean Bean, from The Lord of the Rings’ fame, stars in the film, as well, giving you more reason to expect the performances to be stellar. He plays Jem, Ray’s brother.

Anemone deals with trauma in a way I’ve yet to see. It’s hard to tell where the film is ultimately taking you at first because of its storytelling, which features a stagnant tempo, both intentionally and unintentionally. A lot of creative liberties are taken with how it proceeds from one character to the next, what is expected of Ray. Ronan begins by giving you almost no dialogue, cautioning that if you want to continue watching, you must guess what everyone is thinking. Consider this… it’s a two-hour movie.

Your mind may wander a few times, but the gorgeous music by Bobby Krlic pulls you back in. His work alerts you that something is coming your way that you need to pay attention to. The score is electrifying, so much so that I’d feel fine in saying you need to watch this for that alone.

The responsibilities that come with life become too heavy for Ray to bear, so he takes off. Jem takes on the role of father to his brother’s son, Brian (Samuel Bottomley). He has also been living with Ray’s wife, Nessa, played by Samantha Morton. However, Brian is now in a bad way. He has gotten himself into trouble because he can’t control his temper. Dad needs to step up because this isn’t Uncle territory. Ray has never been able to do so before; what makes this situation any different, in Jem’s belief, is that he has grown as a person and come back from his voluntary banishment from society when he sees his son needs him. No. He prefers isolation to family, to life, because of the things that happened to him when he was a boy and what he did as a man. Putting those things on others is something he cannot do.

In incredibly well-executed monologues, we learn what those things were. We are given bits of Daniel Day-Lewis that you must see. If this were a short film, it could win the most significant awards, but the time required to watch the best of what this film offers is too much. Symbolism, such as a plague of hail, is brilliant, though. Is this to cleanse Ray of wrongdoing? The story he tells of how he liberated his spirit by relieving himself on a local priest is very graphic, but so well done that you could have been in the room watching the scene as he performed just for you. It’s good to have him back.

Film is a visual medium, and Ronan makes the most of his cinematographer, Ben Fordesman. What dialogue there was could have benefited from some visual accompaniment. Monologues were too long and needed action rather than only dialogue. Overall, though, the visuals, colors, and actors’ movements propelled the story forward.

The movie seemed to be made, purposefully, bizarre. Ray tells a tale of why he was considered a war criminal. The scene felt forced and not at all as good as the director may have thought it was. That said, Ronan has an artist’s eye and will, without a doubt, become one of the best directors of his time. You can see it and sense it. Perhaps he was trying to please the wrong person here and not consider that the audience needed to gather what he was trying to say. He needs to trim his films down. He wanted to make a big film and threw everything at the wall. As expected, Daniel Day-Lewis is incredible. He took full advantage of dad’s talent and the next time they work together… it’ll be something special. Sadly, this isn’t.