It’s been eight years since decorated actor Daniel Day-Lewis retired from acting, but now he’s returning for a project he wrote with his son. Anemone — a psychological drama hitting the 2025 movie calendar on October 3 — is the directorial debut of Ronan Day-Lewis, who co-wrote the movie with his father. Critics have screened the film ahead of its release, and while their opinions vary, most agree on the talents of its stars and the potential of its director.
Anemone’s trailer promises a tense atmosphere, as Daniel Day-Lewis plays Ray Stoker, a shut-in whose visit from his brother Jem (Sean Bean) dives into complicated family dynamics. In CinemaBlend’s review of Anemone, Eric Eisenberg says Day-Lewis hasn’t lost an ounce of his dramatic skill and gravitas during his hiatus. The actor and his co-stars give phenomenal performances, Eisenberg says, rating it 4 out of 5 stars and writing:
Anemone is worth seeing for the return of Daniel Day-Lewis alone, as he is a singular artist and one of the most gifted men to ever perform in front of a camera. But the bonus is that he and his son also happen to make tremendous collaborators and have together made a movie that is deep, challenging, beautiful, dark and ultimately optimistic.
Jeremy Mathai of SlashFilm rates it 6.5 out of 10, saying Daniel Day-Lewis gives an “acting showcase for the ages” in a movie full of powerhouse performances. In the end, though, we may remember Anemone as the promising first step in Ronan Day-Lewis’ great career to come. Mathai continues:
Anemone defies whatever labels anyone would attempt to slap onto it. Well, mostly. It’s certainly a debut feature in the dictionary definition of the phrase, for better and worse, emphasizing atmosphere and striking visuals and a penchant for expressionism over any actual plot. With both father and son handling co-writing duties, much of the narrative feels reverse-engineered for the express purpose of giving the elder Day-Lewis a return from quasi-retirement worth the price of admission. What they’ve landed on is a haunting tone poem about brotherhood, regret, and generational cycles of violence with an irresistible hook involving our most acclaimed living actor.
Ryan Lattanzio of IndieWire calls Anemone “a miserable movie top to toe,” with an ending that doesn’t quite come together, but between Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance and the promise shown in his son’s talents, you can forgive some missteps. Lattanzio gave the movie a B, writing:
While Anemone, which effectively captures the feeling of dropping a shot of coffee into your Guinness or the reverse, uppers and downers combined to maximal effect, is often too damp and dreary to a fault, the confidence behind the camera justifies the miserable ends. It’s a movie about lost souls, and how abuse begets further abuse and violence, even as Ray, the self-styled fugitive, has abandoned his life to try and prevent his son from absorbing his worst aspects.
Owen Gleiberman of Variety is less impressed with the project overall, though he does note flashes of talent in Ronan Day-Lewis. In the end, he says Anemone just sits there, and Daniel Day-Lewis’ return to acting means a lot less than it should. Gleiberman continues:
Anemone is still a dud of a movie — aridly pretentious and static, with too much self-conscious art photography and gloomsday indie rock and not enough drama. The film is driven by ‘themes’ that feel weirdly cherry-picked from other movies. … It’s all wrapped around a domestic saga that’s supposed to give the movie heart but remains detached and unconvincing.
Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com rates Anemone just 1.5 out of 4 stars, saying that while Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean are “practically incapable” of delivering a poor performance, Ronan Day-Lewis’ first attempt at the helm leaves much to be desired. The critic says:
Anemone … is style over substance, focused more on the emotional displays of regret and violence than healing. It looks and feels like adolescent displays of anger against the ways the previous generation failed its offspring, but little beyond tying those powerful feelings to the tragic scars the Troubles left behind. The dialogue and narrative structure could have used a few extra drafts so that characters felt more real than conceptual ideas. Anenome is Ronan Day-Lewis stretching his canvas beyond his background in painting, and while there are some interesting crossovers between the broody visual style and eye-catching surrealism, he still has much space to fill.
Critics overall feel mixed about this one. From more than 40 opinions shared on Rotten Tomatoes, Anemone has garnered 56%. If Daniel Day-Lewis’ first movie in eight years has you intrigued, be sure to catch it when it hits the big screen on Friday, October 3. After that, we’ll have to see if Daniel Day-Lewis sticks around for more or goes back to retirement.