Day-Lewis father and son create a beautifully shot bore
Anemone is the directorial debut from Ronan Day-Lewis, son of Daniel Day-Lewis. Both father and son have writing credits on the film, and not coincidentally the film is about a father coming to terms with his past and a son reckoning with his father’s elusive wartime legacy. Ronan, 27, has some prior cinematography credits, and demonstrates a promising grasp of visual staging. However, Anemone asks too much from the audience. Extracting themes and identifying Greek mythological references are welcome forms of audience participation, but Anemone implores the viewer to not only guess narrative context, but then puzzle it together. Lacking a coherent script, Anemone feels underbaked. The film is a style-over-substance exercise in nepo-baby reasoning unfurling at a glacial pace, barely held aloft by Daniel Day-Lewis’s noteworthy performance. Continue reading “Film Review: “Anemone””