The film, written by Daniel Day- Lewis and his son Ronan Day-Lewis, is out in cinemas now. But what have critics been saying about it?
The Guardian: *** “This is a movie with, in the Scots phrase, no small opinion of itself; a movie of big scenes, big performances, big images, epiphanies and hallucinations. Not all of them work, but the presence of Day-Lewis settles and moors it.”
The Independent: ** “It is, for the most part, constructed out of isolated (sometimes surreal) images of desolation, isolation, and regret: a cabin so deep in the woods it’s nearly consumed by it; a timely apparition of an unearthly, mythic creature; a violent, Old Testament hailstorm. Its characters rarely speak, but when they do, it’s less about the words themselves than the anger in their delivery. Yet that’s precisely all Anemone can do. It shows us the pain, but not the depth of the wound.”
The FT: ** ” It all comes undone in a bizarre culminating apocalypse. Anemone is a Masculinity in Crisis film, a Cycle of Violence film, (unsurprisingly) a Fathers and Sons movie, and not terribly illuminating in any of these registers.’
BFI.org.uk: “In Ronan Day-Lewis’s first feature, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a former British soldier, Ray, who has exiled himself to a cabin in the wilderness. The setting nearly provides a description of the film in toto, the legendary actor giving us a private masterclass in portraying grief, rage and everything else that’s grown over his love for his family, like moss overrunning a tree.”
The Telegraph: **** “Eight years after announcing his retirement from acting, Daniel Day-Lewis has been lured back to our screens…”
Empire: **** “But, unsurprisingly, the film is at its most compelling when observing Ray. With tightly cropped grey hair, tats and a Bill The Butcher-esque ’tache, Day-Lewis is by turns big and boisterous (marvel at him riffing on God’s underpants, His testicles “swinging like church bells”), then small and shameful. Early on, he spins a stunning extended scatological tale that involves a priest and a Guinness-curry-laxative combo that is simultaneously funny and horrifying. It instantly takes its place in the DDL Monologue Hall Of Fame: some of that unexpected broad toilet humour at its best. Welcome back, sir.”
Rolling Stone: “Yes, the Oscar winner’s performance as a recluse dealing with his traumatic past reminds us why he’s a legend. Yet this familial drama is anything but a mere showcase.”