Anemone
Focus Features | Release Date: October 3, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
18
Negative:
4

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 6, 2025
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. Read full review
60
Time OutAnna SmithOct 14, 2025
This family endeavour is an acting masterclass, and we should be grateful that it’s lured Daniel Day-Lewis back into acting after eight years in the metaphorical woods. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesTim GriersonOct 7, 2025
There’s reason to celebrate that Daniel Day-Lewis has chosen, at least temporarily, to cancel his retirement, but “Anemone” as a whole strains for a greatness that its star effortlessly conveys. Amid the film’s self-conscious depiction of a brewing tempest, he remains a true force of nature. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 2, 2025
There is, of course, enormous pleasure in watching Daniel Day-Lewis, an actor of extraordinary sensitivity whose ability to convey a character’s interiority — the delicacy and the violence — can seem almost mystical. The problem is that as Anemone continues, the strength of the actor’s performance lays bare the banality of the writing, and Ray’s grip on your imagination loosens even as Day-Lewis’s remains fixed. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 28, 2025
Regardless of the film’s shortcomings, it’s a thrill to have this giant of an actor back on a movie screen, hopefully next time with a more satisfyingly fleshed-out screenplay. Read full review
50
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsNov 5, 2025
After a strong opening drag, there’s the feeling that the film doesn’t really have anything more to say, its revelations seeming fairly paltry in the scheme of things. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 3, 2025
It’s rich material, but despite having one of the greatest actors of his generation at his disposal, Ronan manages to fumble it—delivering a film that functions more as a sleep aid than a drama. Read full review
50
ColliderRoss BonaimeOct 2, 2025
While it’s certainly great that Daniel Day-Lewis is back in his element, and Ronan Day-Lewis can craft impressive, imposing imagery, Anemone is just too much empty space, waiting to be filled with something. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 28, 2025
It’s a transcendent performance, somehow both a miracle and the kiss of death. It is good enough to almost elevate the entire movie above its many awkward shortcomings. And yet it also crystallizes those shortcomings. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineAnzhe ZhangSep 28, 2025
Anemone is unable to tell a family story that lives up to its visual splendor and enigmatic atmosphere. Read full review
45
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzOct 2, 2025
While there are several moments in the film, including two extended monologues, that remind audiences just how ferociously committed a performer Daniel can be, so much of Anemone feels a few dozen workshops away from being camera-ready. Read full review
45
LooperReuben BaronSep 28, 2025
While DDL's acting genius gives the film some spark, those sparks are sapped by lethargic pacing and serious pretentiousness. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyNov 13, 2025
Day-Lewis, reliably, commands the whole piece, with that twinkle in his eye that spells either mischief or the inciting spark of an inferno. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeNov 5, 2025
No sensitive person watching Anemone could fail to be intrigued about where Ronan Day-Lewis will go next. This grandiose, inventively operatic project is no ordinary film. But it is not quite a good film either. Too monotonous. Too self-regarding. Showy to the point of meretriciousness. Read full review
40
The TimesKevin MaherOct 17, 2025
It’s mostly a dirge, but the younger Day-Lewis has an artful eye and his indecently talented dad is clearly crying out for better material. Read full review
40
VarietyOwen GleibermanSep 28, 2025
As you watch the film, though, it’s amazing how things that should mean a lot could come to so little, including the return of Daniel Day-Lewis. Read full review
40
Screen DailyRobert DanielsSep 28, 2025
Even for a man who could be called the greatest actor of his generation, the obtuse script and abstract visual language are too much to overcome in what is ultimately a dull, meandering film. Read full review
40
The GuardianAdrian HortonSep 28, 2025
The younger Day-Lewis shows promise as a film-maker – Anemone certainly looks serious, the correct scowls and swirling skies and wordless, eerie montages to suggest weighty themes, big emotions and ominous suspense. The tools to back up that style with emotional punches that land like the real ones of the brothers – best believe they tussle it out, because of course – are not yet refined, but in this father-son duo, at least, I have faith. Read full review
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