Anemone Review (2025 BFI London Film Festival)
Arthouse is a word that’s almost fallen into dis-use. With their unconventional style, symbolic content and emphasis on the aesthetic instead of the box office, arthouse movies had their heydays in the 60s and 70s. But, despite fading into the background, they still regularly resurface as influences on contemporary directors, Christopher Nolan, Bong Joon Ho and Alfonso Cuaron among them. And, while Anemone has been in the spotlight for featuring Daniel Day-Lewis’s first film in eight years, it unexpectedly ticks just about every arthouse movie box.
Director Ronan Day-Lewis has tempted his father out of retirement to both co-write and star in a dour story about two seemingly diametrically opposed brothers coming to terms with a complex and murky past. Anemone centres on Ray (Day-Lewis), who lives in self-imposed solitude in a remote and spartan cottage, while his deeply religious brother Jem (Sean Bean) is in suburban Sheffield with wife Nessa (Samantha Morton) and son Brian (Samuel Bottomley), currently on leave from the army. The two men are re-united for the first time in years when Jem arrives on Ray’s doorstep and, over the course of two hours, we’re drip-fed the story of his retreat from his family, as well as the reason for his brother’s visit, all set against the backdrop of their prickly and often violent relationship.
The weight of expectation on Anemone’s director to deliver is inevitable. Putting his name to one side, this is his feature debut and he wrote the script with his father. The sad fact is that, despite showing some genuine strengths, he’s over-stretched himself to the point of snapping. Head-scratching and clumsy symbolism, frustratingly abrupt editing and a leaning towards over-lengthy shots all result in an experience as distant as Ray’s relationship with what we would consider everyday life. It’s a flawed film – at times deeply so – but what makes the disappointment even more acute is the level of talent that’s been poured into it. There are times, though, when it does work – and work well.
As the narrative alternates between the brothers and mother and son back in Sheffield, Day-Lewis displays an eye for strong images and, with Ben Fordesman (Saint Maud) as his DOP, we’re treated to some excellent photography. The brothers swimming in the cold northern sea, giving us a glimpse of the bond between them – blink and you’ll miss it – is a genuine highlight and Fordesman makes the most of the unforgiving landscape. The four main performances say a lot for the director’s ability to get the best out of his perfectly chosen cast. Day-Lewis senior buries his past underneath almost impenetrable layers of aggression and vicious sarcasm, but they melt before our eyes to reveal a horrific truth. And, while Bean is more often than not in listening mode, there’s always a tangible strength just waiting to rise to the surface. Morton’s mother has the world – both past and present – on her shoulders, while Bottomley (How To Have Sex) is holed up in his room, terrified of what the future holds for him. It’s a quartet of fine performances.
In true arthouse style, Anemone has also saddled itself with the most obscure of titles. There’s a patch of anemones growing outside Ray’s house and a passing comment from Jem explains they were their father’s favourite flowers. We’re told nothing more and only see them once again, smashed into the ground by a freak hail storm. But anemones are one of the hardiest of garden plants: they can grow just about anywhere, so let’s assume they’re a sign of better things to come – both for the family in his film and Ronan Day-Lewis himself. We’d like to think so.
★★
Screening at the London Film Festival on 14th, 16th and 19th October / in cinemas from November 7th. / Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley / Dir: Ronan Day-Lewis / Universal Pictures / 15
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