🎭Anemone (2025) Review: Daniel Day-Lewis Returns in a Haunting Meditation on Isolation and Family

“You can bury the past, but the tide always brings it back.”

After an eight-year silence, Daniel Day-Lewis — the master of transformation — returns to the screen in Anemone, a slow-burning psychological drama that marks both a family reunion and an artistic rebirth. Directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis, and co-written by father and son, the film unfolds like a quiet storm — full of grief, guilt, and fragile reconciliation.

Premiering at the 2025 New York Film Festival, Anemone has since polarized critics. Yet, beneath its meditative pacing lies a power few films dare to explore — the beauty of broken connections and the suffocating pull of solitude.

🌊 The Story: A Family Adrift

In Anemone, Daniel Day-Lewis plays Ray Stoker, a reclusive man living in a weather-beaten coastal shack in Northern England. Haunted by a past tragedy, Ray lives in near-total isolation, surrounded only by the cold sea and his regrets.

His silence is shattered when his estranged brother Jem (played with rough tenderness by Sean Bean) shows up unexpectedly, urging him to return home — to face the family he abandoned, including their sister Nessa (Samantha Morton) and Ray’s estranged son Brian (Samuel Bottomley).

But as the tide rises and memories resurface, Anemone becomes less about reunion and more about confrontation — with guilt, grief, and the haunting question: Can we ever truly come home again?

🎬 A Return Like No Other: Daniel Day-Lewis Shines Again

Day-Lewis, who last appeared in Phantom Thread (2017), gives a mesmerizing performance that feels both lived-in and spectral. His Ray Stoker is a man of few words but immense emotional depth — every glance, pause, and tremor telling a story of regret.

Critics have rightfully praised his performance as “a masterclass in silence,” comparing it to his iconic turns in There Will Be Blood and The Boxer.

Sean Bean, too, delivers a deeply human performance, grounding the film’s emotional weight. Samantha Morton’s quiet fury as Nessa, meanwhile, gives the story its beating heart.

🎥 Cinematic Elegance: Ronan Day-Lewis’s Poetic Vision

For a debut feature, Ronan Day-Lewis directs with remarkable restraint and confidence. His background in short films and photography shows — every frame of Anemone looks like a painting, drenched in greys, seafoam, and silence.

Cinematographer Ben Fordesman captures the windswept coast with poetic precision — waves crash like memories, fog swallows figures whole, and light becomes a metaphor for redemption. The film’s pacing is deliberate, echoing the rhythm of the sea — patient, inevitable, and merciless.

Composer Bobby Krlic (The Haxan Cloak) scores the film with minimal, haunting soundscapes — ambient tones that linger long after the credits roll.

⚖️ The Divided Response: A Film That Demands Patience

Anemone has received mixed reviews from critics. Many have called it “too slow” or “emotionally distant”, while others hail it as “a quiet triumph of introspection.”

While the screenplay — co-written by Daniel and Ronan — occasionally drifts into abstraction, the film’s emotional undercurrent remains strong. It’s less about dialogue and more about the unspoken tension between father, son, and brother — both on screen and behind the camera.

For some, that makes Anemone frustrating. For others, it makes it transcendent.

🌹 Performances That Anchor the Tide

• Daniel Day-Lewis as Ray Stoker: Fragile, furious, and fascinating. A return that reminds us why he’s one of cinema’s greatest living actors.

• Sean Bean as Jem Stoker: The emotional glue of the film — blunt, caring, and tragically real.

• Samantha Morton as Nessa Stoker: Heartbreaking in her restraint, embodying the pain of those left behind.

• Samuel Bottomley and Safia Oakley-Green round out the cast with quiet strength, representing a generation watching the past collapse and rebuild.

💬 Memorable Line

“We’re all just waiting for the tide to take us home.”

This single line captures the essence of Anemone: a film about the relentless pull of family, no matter how far one drifts.

🎞️ Technical Details

Title: Anemone

Director: Ronan Day-Lewis

Writers: Ronan Day-Lewis, Daniel Day-Lewis

Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner

Cinematography: Ben Fordesman

Music: Bobby Krlic

Production: Plan B Entertainment

Distributors: Focus Features (U.S.), Universal Pictures (U.K.)

Runtime: 126 minutes

Languages: English

Countries: United Kingdom, United States

Box Office: $1 million

Release Dates:

• World Premiere – September 28, 2025 (NYFF)

• U.S. Release – October 3, 2025

• U.K. Release – November 7, 2025

⭐ Verdict: 7.5/10

Anemone is not a crowd-pleaser — it’s a slow, melancholic meditation on grief, family, and forgiveness. But for those willing to surrender to its rhythm, it’s a profoundly moving experience.

Daniel Day-Lewis’s comeback is worth every second of its quiet intensity — a haunting reminder that some performances don’t demand attention; they earn it.

❓ FAQs — Anemone (2025)

Q1: What is Anemone about?

It follows a reclusive man whose estranged brother returns, urging him to reunite with his family — forcing him to face guilt and memories long buried.

Q2: Is this Daniel Day-Lewis’s return to acting?

Yes! Anemone marks his first role since Phantom Thread (2017), ending his self-imposed retirement.

Q3: Who directed Anemone?

The film was directed by Ronan Day-Lewis, Daniel’s son, making his feature directorial debut.

Q4: Why is the film called “Anemone”?

The title refers both to the sea flower — fragile yet resilient — and to the film’s oceanic symbolism of renewal and emotional depth.

Q5: Where can I watch Anemone?

The film had a limited U.S. release via Focus Features and will expand globally through Universal Pictures starting November 7, 2025.

Q6: How has the film been received by critics?

Reviews are mixed — the performances, especially Day-Lewis’s, are praised, while the screenplay has divided audiences for its slow pacing.

🌊 “Anemone” reminds us that forgiveness isn’t loud — it’s the quiet sound of waves receding, leaving behind what’s meant to stay.