🌊ANEMONE (2025): Daniel Day-Lewis Returns in a Haunting Tale of Fathers, Sons, and the Currents That Bind Them – Plot, Cast, Release Date & Where to Watch

Daniel Day-Lewis is stepping back into the light. After his unforgettable turn in Phantom Thread (2017), the legendary actor makes a triumphant return with ANEMONE, a deeply stirring family drama directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, in his feature directorial debut. The film, set to premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival before opening in theaters on October 3, 2025, promises to be a generational event — not just in cinema, but in storytelling itself.

🎬 A Story Etched in Blood and Salt

At its heart, Anemone is a meditation on lineage, masculinity, and the emotional storms that ripple through families. The narrative follows Ray Stoker (Daniel Day-Lewis), a weathered father whose choices haunt both his relationship with his brother Jem (Sean Bean) and the fragile bond he shares with his son. As the tides of the past return, Anemone dives into the unspoken resentments, buried grief, and fragile reconciliations that define fathers and sons.

As one line in the film poignantly whispers: “We are shaped by the tides we never see, and drowned by the ones we cannot escape.”

🌊 The Weight of Legacy

What makes Anemone extraordinary isn’t only its intimate story but the very bloodline behind it. This is the first collaboration between Daniel Day-Lewis and his son Ronan Day-Lewis, who directs with an assured voice that critics are already calling both lyrical and uncompromising. Their collaboration transforms the film into more than just a drama — it’s a meditation on legacy, artistry, and inheritance.

Cinematographer Ben Fordesman (Saint Maud) captures the story with painterly light, framing seaside towns and shadowed interiors as if they were living portraits. Editor Nathan Nugent (Room) sculpts the film’s rhythm into waves of tension and release, while Plan B Entertainment (Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner) ensures the production carries a prestige sheen.

⭐ The Cast: A Gathering of Titans

• Daniel Day-Lewis as Ray Stoker – his long-awaited return to acting, promising another towering performance.

• Sean Bean as Jem Stoker – a role that calls upon Bean’s gravitas to portray brotherhood scarred by regret.

• Samantha Morton – bringing her trademark depth to the Stoker family’s emotional fabric.

• Samuel Bottomley & Safia Oakley-Green – rising stars who embody the younger generation caught in the currents of inherited pain.

Together, this cast feels like a tapestry of British and Irish talent woven across generations.

🎥 Festival Premiere & Theatrical Release

Anemone will world premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival, a fitting stage for a film of this weight, before Focus Features brings it to U.S. theaters on October 3, 2025. Universal Pictures will handle the international release, with an expanded rollout beginning October 10, 2025. With a runtime of 121 minutes, the film promises a deliberately paced yet emotionally immersive journey.

⚓ Why ANEMONE Matters

Cinema often gives us spectacle. Anemone gives us silence, fracture, and the slow unspooling of love under pressure. It’s about fathers, sons, brothers, and the lingering question: Can we ever truly break free from the tides of our inheritance?

With Daniel Day-Lewis returning to the screen and passing the directorial torch to his son, Anemone isn’t just another film — it’s a generational milestone. Expect it to be one of the most talked-about dramas of 2025, a film that will linger long after the credits fade, like waves against the shore.

🌊 Anemone crashes into theaters October 3, 2025. Don’t miss the return of a legend.