Anniversary Movie Review

“Anniversary” is part “Carrie” and part “The Hand Maid’s Tale.” It’s a psychological thriller that focuses on the political leanings of the day, cautioning the viewer to see what’s going on before their very eyes, and not to ignore what they see just because nothing bad has ever happened to them before.
​

When you truly listen to its message, it becomes more horror than drama, as you believed it would be, based on how the movie starts. After watching, you’ll stay awake several nights, hoping brighter days lie ahead for you.

The movie hugs you, supports you, that the feeling of a simple 25th anniversary party happening between the licensee of a fine dining establishment, Paul Taylor (Chandler), and his wife, Ellen Taylor, a Georgetown professor, played masterfully by Diane Lane, is just a nice family drama. 25 years already?? Well, I assure you, it’s anything but simple. After Ellen’s old liberal arts student, Liz (Phoebe Dynevor), who is now dating their son Josh (Dylan O’Brien), seemingly to get back at her former teacher, who didn’t appreciate her authoritarian beliefs, gets into the weeds, it’s all the thriller it claims to be. Liz is a nasty one, complete with deep, dark stares toward her old academician to get her to see her as an equal or above her now. She often attempts to get Ellen to back down. Ellen believes Liz is gifted, but with a radical ideology that goes so far as to denigrate the Constitution. She thinks a single-party system for unity in America. This disturbs Ellen greatly. It’s not long before Liz and her viewpoints are taking hold, based on her popular best-selling novel, “The Change.” The book is a sort of preamble for which the country is to set anew. At a family dinner, their daughter Anna, played by Madeline Brewer, says what everyone’s thinking with one of the leaders attempting to end democracy at the table. She says that Autocracy doesn’t have a sense of humor.

Everything related to “The Change” seems to center on a business called the Cumberland Company. The change is in seeing that you can swim in winter in the northeastern states of the country. They did that, and it’s a good thing… right? Other members of the family are at odds about what’s real and what isn’t. Paul takes it as another thing to live with when a drone flies above him, alerting him that he has broken curfew, and he had better get back to his house or be arrested. As a professor who taught against these policies, Ellen is being driven crazy.

A year later, violence is everywhere, fear is mainstream, and your bandwidth is monitored, as well as rationed. Neighbor turns on neighbor, and Ellen is now on a watchlist. As it progresses, the film gets more frightening. The situation this family, and every other family in the country, is now in isn’t getting better; things are getting worse. “Non-Changers” are targeted. You may not believe in it, but should you pretend you do is going through every mind as family members turn on one another.

This Orwellian script is clearly based on what is being seen in America today, with less focus on details, but showing you how we may all be fairing through a totalitarian flip. When your neighbor starts watching you, best watch this moment so you don’t miss the warning signs. I liked it for the acting and the chill I got up my spine, but it’s heartbreaking to see the obvious warning signs being completely ignored. Maybe everyone needs to watch this to see the category they fit in. Anti-fascism or antidemocracy. Much like what we see going on around us, you see that it’s impossible to be both. A thought that may go through your head when you see what becomes of the family, Once something gets bigger than you, it can no longer be controlled. Someone finds this out before the end.