Anemone

When Daniel Day-Lewis announced his return to acting for the first time since Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread, the industry reacted with cautious excitement. Not that anyone in their right mind feared his otherworldly skill had atrophied in his absence. Rather, it was the impetus. It's impossible to fault him for coming out of retirement to co-star in his son's debut feature, but it's also reasonable to assume his involvement says nothing about the project's quality. Although he shares a writing credit with Ronan, it's the first of either's career, so we've no idea if his preternatural skill at performance translates to the page. As such, Anemone was full of conflict before a single frame was shot.

That's fitting, as Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a man fraying at the seams, a tightly wound ball of regret who first appears fiercely put together, but whom we watch unravel over the film's two hour runtime. What we know about him and his past is doled out in mysterious morsels as he spends time with his estranged brother Jem (Sean Bean). Jem only found his secluded hut in the middle of a dense forest by consulting a scrap of paper with precise coordinates, speaking to Ray's deep desire to be forgotten and Jem's desperation for assistance. Once reunited, they have little to say to each other, with the first words out of Ray's mouth (an acidic "Fuck off") coming twenty minutes into the film, after the men have spent the better part of a day together. It's only through Jem's persistent presence that Ray begins to open up in his own way, beginning by wielding the poison in their shared past as a cudgel.

Read my full review on Pop Culture Maniacs.