Review: Anemone

Official Synopsis: In Northern England, Jem (Sean Bean) heads out on a journey into the woods to reconnect with the estranged hermit brother, Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis) with whom he shared a complicated past that was altered by life-changing events decades ago.

Sometimes you have to thank good old fashioned nepotism because without it, we might not have seen the return of the great Daniel Day-Lewis. This film, written and directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis is the first time we've seen him act since 2017's Phantom Thread. 

He's still got it, but no one ever doubted that. Anemone is a very slow burn about the relationship between brothers and fathers and sons and every time the film stops to discuss those stories, it's great. There is an excellent story here, unfortunately it might have been a bit too much to handle for a first time director who's eager to show what he can do behind the camera. A lot of this film is lost on long takes, montages, and sweeping scenery. Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful and Ronan Day-Lewis clearly has an eye for these things, but he should've put that same amount of work into the story. 

Whenever the character are actually speaking to one another, I thought this film was magical. Jem and Ray clearly went through it, and the ramifications of that are still being felt today with Ray's ex-wife and son (played by Samantha Morton and Samuel Bottomley) I wanted more of that.

I don't think this film is a complete bust in any way, it's just very easy to see how it could've been better. But I'm glad to have caught it in theaters because these are the type of films I want to support with my theater money, even though it wasn't perfect.

Grade: B-