The resources of filmmaking used to their fullest potential. Adult stories with powerful subjects on the human condition. A director who understands how to use the power of the art form. Anemone is the debut feature of Ronan Day-Lewis who co-wrote the screenplay with his star and father, Daniel Day-Lewis. This is the work of a bona fide filmmaker. Ronan Day-Lewis bleeds creativity and originality, crafting a darkly ambient and profound human drama that floats easily between eerie realism and dreamlike psychedelica.  

Daniel Day-Lewis is Ray Stoker, a former British soldier who lives a quiet, yet haunted, life of self-imposed exile in the forests of Northern England. His brother Jem (Sean Bean) has been sent by Nessa (Samantha Morton) to inform Ray that his 20-year-old son Brian (Samuel Bottomley) is having violent outbursts that are a symptom of his resentment towards his father’s abandonment. Ray has not had contact with his family in almost 15 years. When he left, it brought Jem and Nessa closer together. Their friendship (she was actually his sister-in-law) evolved into the two becoming lovers with Jem raising Brian as if he were his own. 

What follows is a chamber piece/character drama that breathes heavy realism, yet one that embraces a few artful excursions into the surreal and abstract. 

When Jem first arrives at the cabin, Ray knows who is coming to his door. He welcomes his brother inside, but is not welcoming. The two don’t speak for the first day, but conversations come. Ray understands why Jem has come and does all he can to avoid the inevitable. 

As Ray and Jem hike and hunt and occasionally swim the rough waters, their brotherly energy builds. In a striking moment, the two estranged siblings stand in the crashing waves, both staying strong as they are overtaken by the pounding waters. Ray gets closer to Jem and puts his arm around him for a time. The image represents what has become of their brotherly connection. It is unstable and shaken, but the two men will stand for one another. Broken as men. Brothers forever.

Ray and Jem will take a combined journey that leads them into the past and asks what will become of their future. Their journey is bleak, but it is one of purpose that will cut through decades of sadness and regret. Redemption is the destination, but for men like Ray and Jem, the past stands waiting.

The hype surrounding Anemone is the return (after 8 years “retired”) of Daniel Day-Lewis, and rightfully so. There is a reason the actor is considered the best of his generation. Like Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro in their primes, Day-Lewis was always careful when choosing projects and even more careful to keep himself out of the tabloids. Since his first appearance in 1982’s Ghandi (one scene, but he leaves an impression) through his formally final bow in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread in 2017, Daniel Day-Lewis made only 20 pictures. Most of those works are some of the greats from their times. This is a man who takes what he does very seriously. Big paychecks never drew him to subpar projects and Day-Lewis has always worked for directors who would challenge him or, at the very least, match his unrivaled focus and dedication.

The two talented Day-Lewis men assure Anemone to be a worthy collaboration. This is not a mere vanity project to get dear old dad back in front of the cameras. This is a work of aural and ambient art that explores soulful pain and emotional divide. As director, Ronan Day-Lewis finds profundity by penetrating the silences. There are many quiet moments, but they aren’t mundane. Ray has barely spoken to anyone in his decades of exile. As he sits quietly with his brother, the silence holds life’s hard truths at bay. The director uses the tools of the medium to surround his actors with the proper ambiance that will enhance their performances and tell their characters’ respective stories. 

Cinematographer Ben Fordesman creates striking imagery through God’s-eye visions of the forest and a Malick-esque view of the power of nature. One of the film’s most strikingly moving images finds the brothers walking back from a night at the pub. They pass through a carnival. All the lights are bright, the music is on, but there are no customers. The workers sit around looking sad. As they walk by, Ray doesn’t look up. Head down, he will not acknowledge the bright lights and “happy” sounds. Jem turns around, walking backwards while he takes in the surroundings, almost wide-eyed.

This is Ray and Jem passing a representation of their faded memories. Though their souls are tarnished, they were once young boys. Ray knows those memories are long gone. Jem turns for one last glance. A powerful moment that sneaks up on the viewer. 

Bobby Krlic’s guitar-driven electronic compositions blanket each beautifully rendered moment in an almost meditative emotion. Krlic’s score burns like a scarred memory.

Samantha Morton is heartbreaking in her short time on screen. The role isn’t small, but the film only uses Nessa when it must. Morton makes a meal of her scenes through a combination of pain and anger and longing for her son to live a good life.

As Jem, Sean Bean does some of his best work. His is a performance of quiet control. Jem loves and fears his brother. He doesn’t know why Ray left everyone and everything that mattered to him, although he will find out as the brothers open up more and more to one another. There are many actors who would find it difficult to “stay in the scene” when acting with Daniel Day-Lewis, but Sean Bean stays grounded through his measured and moving work. 

Daniel Day-Lewis has come to work and work hard. Ray is an intense man who holds onto pain, almost wearing it as a tarnished badge self-flagellating regret. Father and son’s screenplay gives the actor two of the most intense monologues of his career. Day-Lewis is frightening as he tells of the boyhood trauma perpetrated by a sexually abusive priest. The macabre delight (real or imagined) that Ray takes in telling his brother about his unbelievably cruel retribution is morbidly perverse, while the moment he tells Jem of his guilt and regret regarding the things he had to do when serving in the British military during the time of “the Troubles” in Ireland. When Jem asks Ray what he did, Day-Lewis takes a beat and a deep breath, then turns to Bean. Without saying a word, he stares straight into his brother’s eyes until we see jem look down, understanding what happened. Ray turns back around and silently exhales. 

To command that level of power without words (and with half of your face turned away from the camera) is incredible. Daniel Day-Lewis has always known what to do with a pause or a look and the actor is always unforgettable. Add Ray to the list of great performances by one of the screen’s great actors. For Daniel Day-Lewis, the oft-used clichéd description fits; you cannot take your eyes off him. 

There is mystery and potency to the work Ronan Day-Lewis and his father have created. As a filmmaker, Jr.’s discipline matches Sr.’s. To call this work “artsy” would be a disservice. The director is a visionary and tells his story through revelatory framing and calculated movements. There is emotion in every frame and (if one is listening) truth inside the silence. 

This is a patient film for patient audiences and the first giant leap for an undeniable cinematic artist. 

We live in an era where many younger critics absurdly measure a film’s quality or lasting power by its box office potential. These types never want a film to challenge their minds. For many members of this newer generation, serious stories are their kryptonite and god forbid if a film dares to be quiet or run past 90 minutes. Over the last three decades, there has been a frightening disconnect between critical thinking and proper film discussion. In unison, the quality of film criticism and the type of films being made have taken a hard fall. It is quite rare to see a film that holds something substantial find its way to theaters. When a picture such as this one comes along, we must seize the opportunity and support a work where the filmmakers cared to make something special. Whether a good review or a negative take, critics and moviegoers alike should never cower from serious filmmaking. These days, it is all too rare.

While it may not play to everyone, Ronan and Daniel Day-Lewis have crafted a cinematic stunner. Anemone challenges and frustrates, while both stirring the soul and stimulating the mind. That the film is ultimately moving makes it all the more special. 

 

Anemone

Written by Ronan and Daniel Day-Lewis

Directed by Ronan Day-Lewis

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley

R, 121 Minutes, Focus features, Absinthe Film Entertainment