Casting news rarely (never?) resounds like word of Daniel Day-Lewis’ return. Eight years since an ostensible retirement with Phantom Thread, he’s both reemerged (likely from a dress-making or shoe-cobbling lifestyle) and debuted: Anemone, a feature directed by his progeny Ronan Day-Lewis, will mark the actor’s first screenwriting credit, the duo having scripted a drama, fittingly, concerned with “the intricate relationships between fathers, sons and brothers, and the dynamics of familial bonds.” Focus Features will open the film (co-starring Sean Bean, Samuel Bottomley, Safia Oakley-Green, and Samantha Morton) in limited release on October 3 and wide on October 10, preceding which (and in advance of a world premiere at the 63rd New York Film Festival) comes the first trailer.
Here’s NYFF’s synopsis: “Three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis roars back to the screen for his first role in eight years in this absorbing family drama directed by Ronan Day-Lewis about lives undone by seemingly irreconcilable legacies of political and personal violence. Co-written by father and son, the Northern England–set Anemone begins as a middle-aged man (Sean Bean) sets out from his suburban home on a journey into the woods, where he reconnects with his estranged hermit brother (Day-Lewis). Bonded by a mysterious, complicated past, the men share a fraught, if occasionally tender relationship—one that was forever altered by shattering events decades earlier. An emotional powerhouse, this directorial debut is assured in both small details and grand gestures as it charts the path toward familial redemption against all odds. In addition to its unflinching lead performances, Anemone features standout supporting work from Samantha Morton and Samuel Bottomley, and sensationally expressive widescreen cinematography by Ben Fordesman.”
Watch the preview below: