Retired Actor’s Comeback Film Underwhelms Audiences
Netflix now streams Anemone, the film marking Daniel Day-Lewis’s return to the screen. The project is directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, and the two men co-wrote the screenplay.
Background and context
Daniel Day-Lewis retired from acting in the late 1990s to become a cobbler. He left the profession again after Phantom Thread in 2017.
His presence in Anemone made this a much-anticipated, retired actor’s comeback. Expectations were high among critics and viewers alike.
Cast and setting
Day-Lewis plays Ray Stoker, a withdrawn man living deep in the woods. Sean Bean portrays Jem Stoker, and Samuel Bottomley appears as Brian, Jem’s adult son.
Samantha Morton plays Nessa, the family matriarch. The story is set in rural Ireland and concerns fathers, sons and brothers.
Key scenes
The film opens with Ray chopping wood outside a remote shack. Other early images include Jem praying shirtless and displaying a large BACK tattoo reading ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME.
Jem arrives by motorcycle carrying a packed bag. Brian appears with raw, scabbed knuckles, silently brooding.
Character dynamics
The plot hinges on a strained reunion between the siblings after two decades apart. Ray lives alone, hunting and bathing in the river, and powers a stereo with a generator.
The soundtrack includes a sombre Black Sabbath track titled Spirit Caravan. Tension gives way at times to whiskey, dancing and physical fighting between the men.
Directorial style and imagery
Ronan Day-Lewis favors painterly compositions and dense atmospherics. The film layers foggy visuals and deliberate pacing in pursuit of mystery.
It also features surreal set pieces. Examples include an impossible pink sunset and a large fish-like corpse floating downstream.
Performances and writing
Critics praised Daniel Day-Lewis’s intensity and extended monologues. His long, theatrical soliloquies are often the film’s most affecting moments.
Other scenes were criticized for underdevelopment. Reviewers noted that the screenplay feels simultaneously underwritten and overwritten.
Reception
Many viewers and critics found the film hard to fully connect with emotionally. For some, the retired actor’s comeback underwhelmed and left audiences wanting more clarity.
Commentary highlighted ambitious ideas paired with an opaque narrative. The result felt often indulgent rather than revealing.
This story originally appeared on Filmogaz.com and is republished here with permission.
