Anemone(2025) — Daniel Day-Lewis Returns with Raw Power

Anemone

Directed by: Ronan Day-Lewis

Written by: Daniel Day-Lewis, Ronan Day-Lewis

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samantha Morton

Release Date: October 3rd, 2025

Rating: ★★★★☆

Daniel Day-Lewis returns to the screen in Anemone, a powerful drama of brotherhood, trauma, and emotional reckoning. Read Reelscope’s Catch-Up 2025 review exploring his intense comeback performance alongside Sean Bean and Samantha Morton.

The Return of Daniel Day-Lewis

If anyone doubted that Daniel Day-Lewis had lost his love for acting — or the fiery passion that made him one of cinema’s greatest performers — Anemonedispels that thought within minutes. One unbroken gaze from Day-Lewis to his co-star Sean Bean is enough to remind audiences just how locked in he can be. The passion, the precision, and the quiet devastation are all still there as he confronts trauma, family history, and undiagnosed PTSD in a film that feels both intimate and haunting.

A Cabin in the Woods and the Ghosts Within

Anemone unfolds at a cabin on the border between England and Ireland. The woods are deep, silent, and isolating — home to Ray Stoker (Day-Lewis), a man who’s long ago chosen solitude over society. His life of cutting wood and listening to a battered old radio is disrupted when his estranged brother Jem (Sean Bean) arrives unannounced.

Neither brother says much at first, but through silence and small gestures, we feel the decades of resentment, guilt, and pain between them. We soon learn Jem’s visit has purpose: Ray’s estranged son — whom Jem raised with Ray’s former wife (Samantha Morton) — is in crisis. Jem believes only Ray can reach him before tragedy strikes.

Brothers, Trauma, and Masculinity

Ronan Day-Lewis’s direction keeps the focus tight — two men trapped by their past, surrounded by woods that feel like an extension of their minds. The conversations that unfold over a few days are tense, raw, and uncomfortably real.

Ray is a man raised in violence and silence — where emotion was weakness and trauma was buried under work and war. He’s lived by the belief that pain is best endured, not shared. Jem’s visit forces those walls to crack, and though Anemone doesn’t force catharsis, it leads us right to its threshold.

The film’s final image — an open doorway — invites us to decide whether Ray will finally step forward or remain trapped in the past. It’s an ending that feels both haunting and hopeful.

A Meta Edge: Sean Bean and the Power of Expectation

There’s a fascinating meta tension in seeing Sean Bean play Jem. Known for dying in many of his most famous roles, Bean carries an unspoken sense of danger into every frame. When the camera lingers on Day-Lewis chopping wood with an ax, it’s hard not to imagine violence lurking beneath their reunion. The movie never indulges this possibility — but it adds a layer of suspense that heightens the unease of their fragile peace.

Daniel Day-Lewis, Unmatched

Day-Lewis remains one of the few actors who can make silence feel symphonic. A late monologue — delivered with stomach-churning imagery and gut-wrenching honesty — cements why his return matters. In lesser hands, it might have tipped into shock or melodrama. Instead, it becomes a moment of pure, painful truth.

Sean Bean gives one of his best performances in years, grounding Jem’s guilt and compassion in subtlety. Samantha Morton, in limited screen time, provides the emotional anchor that ties the entire family’s pain together.

A Confident Directorial Debut

Ronan Day-Lewis’s direction is understated and confident. For his first feature, he resists any temptation to over-style the material. His camera lingers in the right places, capturing faces rather than landscapes, though the cinematography still finds haunting beauty in foggy woods and the lonely gray of a coastal beach.

It’s a debut that suggests both respect for performance and confidence in mood. He knows the story doesn’t need embellishment — it only needs truth.

Final Thoughts

Anemone is an emotional excavation of masculinity, guilt, and generational trauma, powered by a magnetic Daniel Day-Lewis performance. Whether this is a brief return or the start of a new chapter, it’s proof that his craft — and his fire — remain undiminished.

Eleanor the Great — Scarlett Johansson’s Graceful Directorial Debut

Eleanor The Great

Directed by: Scarlett Johansson

Written by: Tony Kamen

Starring: June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Hecht, Rita Zohar

Release Date: September 26, 2025

Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor the Great stars June Squibb in a heartfelt, funny, and deeply human story about grief, friendship, and finding meaning late in life. A quiet triumph that proves Johansson may be as good behind the camera as she is in front of it.

The Story of a Lonely Heart Finding a New Purpose

Eleanor the Great stars the remarkable June Squibb as Eleanor, an elderly Florida retiree whose tranquil routine is shattered by the death of her lifelong best friend, Bessie (Rita Zohar). With no reason to stay, Eleanor impulsively decides to move back to New York City to live with her daughter, Lisa (Jessica Hecht).

Lisa, overwhelmed by work and ill-equipped for long-term cohabitation, quickly begins searching for assisted living options. But that tension is just the prologue — the real story begins when Eleanor meets Nina Davis (Erin Kellyman), a journalism student grieving her own mother’s death.

At a local community center, Eleanor finds herself mistakenly invited to a Holocaust survivors’ group. Though she isn’t a survivor, she begins retelling her late friend Bessie’s stories as her own — an act of kindness that slowly becomes a dangerous lie once Nina decides to feature Eleanor’s “story” in a college thesis and, eventually, on television with her father, Roger (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

A Story That Could Have Been Sitcom Fodder — But Isn’t

What could easily have devolved into a farcical sitcom about mistaken identity instead blossoms into a film full of grace, humanity, and forgiveness. Johansson and writer Tony Kamen resist the urge for cheap laughs or tear-jerking manipulation. Instead, they find beauty in vulnerability — the quiet, everyday courage it takes to confront loss, loneliness, and the lies we tell to feel less alone.

When Eleanor’s secret is inevitably threatened, the film doesn’t seek to humiliate her. It extends compassion — to her, to Nina, to everyone just trying to hold onto meaning in a world that keeps taking things away.

Scarlett Johansson Behind the Camera

For her first film as director, Scarlett Johansson proves surprisingly understated. Her touch is light, her pacing unhurried. There’s no ego here, just a sincere focus on the story and the people within it. Having grown up surrounded by filmmakers, Johansson understands that directing is as much about listening as it is about control.

Eleanor the Great isn’t a flashy debut. It’s quietly confident, generous toward its cast, and deeply human — the kind of work that signals Johansson could have a serious second act as a filmmaker if she continues down this path.

June Squibb and Erin Kellyman: A Friendship for the Ages

The movie’s heart belongs entirely to June Squibb and Erin Kellyman, whose chemistry feels effortless and real. Their friendship — tender, funny, and unforced — anchors the movie emotionally.

Squibb, fresh off last year’s wonderful Thelma, is a revelation once again. She refuses to play Eleanor as a caricature of an old woman acting young. Instead, she finds humor and strength in dignity, crafting a character full of curiosity, regret, and warmth. Kellyman’s naturalism complements her beautifully, resulting in one of the year’s most touching onscreen duos.

The End of “Old People Acting Young” Jokes

Years ago, The Simpsons killed the tired trope of “old people acting young” with one perfectly barbed gag: Dame Vanessa Redgrave saying, “I’m going to haul ass to Lollapalooza.” That moment symbolically buried a cultural trend — and perhaps made room for stories like Eleanor the Great.

Now, filmmakers like Johansson are crafting stories that respect aging characters. We’re seeing that older women can be funny, complex, and vitalwithout becoming the butt of the joke. June Squibb’s late-career renaissance stands as proof that maturity and emotional intelligence are cinematic assets, not liabilities.

Final Thoughts: A Beautiful, Unflashy Triumph

Eleanor the Great is a small film that earns big emotions. It’s about the lies we tell not to deceive, but to connect — and how empathy, not punishment, offers redemption.

Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut may not reinvent the wheel, but it reminds us why storytelling matters. And in June Squibb, it gives us a heroine for the ages — wise, fallible, and beautifully alive.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)