Day-Lewis duo's first feature “Anemone” gets lost in its own darkness

Focus Features/TNS

★★½

It has been eight years since Daniel Day-Lewis made an appearance on the big screen. When he announced his retirement in 2017 after his leading role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread,” the film world wondered if we had seen the last of the legendary actor.

Released Oct. 3, “Anemone” marks not only the celebrated return of Daniel, but also the directorial debut of his son, Ronan, featuring a script the duo wrote together.

Daniel plays Ray, a grizzled and guilt-ridden veteran of The Troubles in Northern Ireland living secluded in the thick Englishwoodlands. When Ray’s steadfast brother Jem (Sean Bean) and his partner Nessa (Samantha Morton) fail to break through to their troubled son Brian (Samuel Bottomley), Jem sets out on a journey to reconnect with Ray, who is revealed to be Brian’s biological father. The two brothers spend the film wading through the murk of their demons in hopes of stumbling upon some closure.

Though no doubt a meaty concept rich in narrative potential, “Anemone” bites off more than it can chew. The two-hour drama attempts to juggle overlapping themes of absolution, piety, generational patterns, religious trauma, brotherhood and the lasting impact of war on the human psyche. All the while, it maintains a stylistic opaqueness that ultimately clouds the viewing experience. The film does not quite seem to know what it is, and the audience is left even more clueless.

Read the full review at The Ithacan.