Parents' Guide to Anemone

Daniel Day-Lewis is as amazing to watch as always in this slow-burn drama that wrings emotional intensity from a narrative in which, frankly, not much happens. Ray is surprised but not horrified at Jem's arrival and pours him a cup of tea and a bowl of stew. Jem takes up a place on the floor in front of the fire, and the two mostly sit together in silence. Anemone doles out its information stingily, with spare dialogue and lots of significant pauses. Viewers have to pay attention to figure out what's going on, analyzing facial expressions and other clues. Eventually we realize that Ray fled his old life due to troubles connected with the (Irish) Troubles and that asking him to return to his boyhood home is a heavier request than it might at first seem.

Despite a story that's thin and undercooked, Anemone is full of enticing visuals: the dripping forest that surrounds Ray's cabin, purple and orange sunsets over vast green hills, an ice storm that arrives at the film's climax and rains fist-sized chunks of hail on the characters, and symbolizes ... what? It's clear from the long storm scene that it means something, as does another scene in which Ray explains to his brother that the delicate white flowers he propagates outside his cabin are the same ones their father grew: anemones (hey! that's the name of the movie!). Unfortunately, such visual and writerly flourishes can be opaque to viewers, and although both Bean and Day-Lewis make the most of their spare roles, there's just not enough story here to grab on to. Instead, we get long scenes in which we watch, say, Jem and Ray swimming in the ocean with moody, driving synth-and-guitar music over the top. It sounds like something's going to happen. But nothing happens. Anemone is a curiosity that's cool to look at and has an extraordinary cast, but ultimately it doesn't have enough meat on its bones to satisfy even the art-house audience who would watch almost anything with Day-Lewis in it.