As the end credits of Anniversary began to roll, I was left baffled as to why Lionsgate seems to be dumping this film at the end of October like it’s some kind of stinker. Some studios do this when they have little or no confidence in a project, which seemed to be the case here. I’ve only seen one trailer for the film (when it was released online), and the studio and the majority of the cast (with the possible exception of Diane Lane, who gets a producing credit) haven’t really done much to promote it all. The fact of the matter is, Anniversary is no stinker and it’s probably one of the most taut thrillers to be released in quite sometime but, and this could be the real reason there seems to be virtual radio silence from most involved, it has a premise that is politically timely, frightening and quite reminiscent of the world we appear to be on the cusp of living today.
If movies are a form of escapism, this one doesn’t provide the necessary blinders to make us believe that everything is ok. Lionsgate couldn’t have known when they greenlit the film and when it was shooting in 2023, that the world it paints would be so much more of a reality in 2025. Maybe this isn’t the time for Anniversary to find its moment and its audience but movies this smart can’t be hidden forever and it wouldn’t surprise me if a few years down the line, when hopefully our world becomes a bit more sane, Anniversary might provide an entertaining, but realistic view of a place and time when things felt frightfully uncertain for our country and world at large.
The master stroke of director Jan Komasa, a Polish filmmaker making this his first American directorial endeavor, and screenwriter Lori Rosene-Gambino, with this reportedly being her first screenplay, is that the drama and thrills in Anniversary feel equal parts intimate and massive. Centering the start of the story around the 25th anniversary of a married couple and making it seem like the typical family dynamics of banter and disagreements will be at the heart of what tears things apart keeps the audience off-balance. As more political ideologies are mixed in and the world changes around the family as the years progress (the events of the film are played out over 5 years, typically at some kind of family gathering), not only has the film grown from an intimate tale of family turmoil, but the audience has frighteningly seen the world around them evolve under an authoritarian government. The fact that it began at a 25th anniversary and with a song bringing a new girlfriend into the fold just shows how sometimes these things start small until growing into something that simply can’t be controlled.
Everything starts typically enough. The Taylor family is made up of familiar types that will be identifiable to the audience. Ellen and Paul Taylor (Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler) lead the way as the poster children of a typical good-looking and professional couple whose lifestyles have afforded them enough comfort to put three of their four children through college (the youngest still lives at home and hasn’t reached that personal milestone just yet). Ellen is a professor at Georgetown University, while Paul is a chef and restaurateur. Their lives are seemingly perfect, and that appears to be true of their children as well.
Cynthia (Zoey Deutch) is a bit cynical and wears it on her sleeve, but she’s likable. She’s married to Rob, and they’re both attorneys who work together on environmental law (they seem hilariously disconnected until the film gives them a shockingly dark reason to not be on the same page). There’s Anna (Madeline Brewer), full of snark and a biting sense of humor, who is queer, proud of it, and a stand-up comedian whose career is on the upswing (her bluntness proves to be a major plot point that escalates tensions later in the film). There’s the youngest, Birdie (McKenna Grace), who seems quiet and a bit shy, but has an affinity for science and a personality that hints at rebellion if the right cause came her way.
However, the one that sets all of this in motion is the nebbish Josh (Dylan O’Brien), a struggling fiction writer whose first attempt to make it was rejected by numerous publishers. Josh is dating Liz (Phoebe Dynevor), who is revealed to be a former student of Ellen’s who wrote a paper that seemed to frighten her more progressive mindset. Her right-wing politics led to rejection and humiliation, but now she’s dating the son of the woman who led that rejection, and Liz is on the verge of becoming a superstar in conservative media. She has a book called The Change: A New Social Compact that is on the verge of being published. It’s being pushed by a mysterious entity called the Cumberland Company, and soon goes from being a book to a movement with policies that prove to be frightening. As the film jumps ahead, this union and her ideals not only unravel the family, but also change the set of rules that almost everyone follows unless they want to accept the dire consequences.
Anniversary is insanely ambitious, and while some might call it heavy-handed and too on the nose, it’s hard to accept such criticisms because simply turning on the TV day-to-day makes what this movie is selling not all that hard to accept. The movie is scary in the sense that it feels all too real, and even though there are dashes of solid humor (mostly of the darkly funny variety), the movie only becomes more bleak, yet all the more intriguing as it moves along.
Moving the film ahead in time gradually allows its changes to be presented in a way that makes the character transitions compelling to watch. When it jumps ahead two years to a Thanksgiving where Liz is now pregnant, and she chooses this moment to announce she’s been invited to speak at Georgetown University (take that, Ellen) makes for one of the film’s best scenes. It’s expertly written, but it’s executed with precision from the cast, with every single person in the ensemble getting a moment that resonates.
The most jarring and menacing change comes courtesy of Josh, expertly portrayed by O’Brien, who is having one hell of a year proving that he is one hell of an actor between this and what should be an Oscar-nominated turn in Twinless. Josh goes from someone defeated by his rejections to someone with authoritarian confidence each time a new gathering brings the family together. His scorn grows more noticeable, and when it becomes clear that he’ll even dress down his own family under his new groomed behavior, it’s evident that he has adapted a whole new way of thinking that is disgustingly manipulative and downright chilling. A scene he shares with Chandler late in the film, where he uses a form of humiliating his father to get him to accept an offer he can’t refuse, showcases the absolute depths he has sunk to.
Excellent performances come from the entire cast. Everyone has an opportunity to shine, and what’s great about all the performances is that if they seem to be on a more neutral ground (Chandler fits this bill, seemingly at first), they become something much more complex. The movie isn’t a thriller in the traditional sense, where the thrills and spooks are atmospheric with evil lurking around every corner. The tension and thrills come from the interactions of the characters and being on your toes about what they will do next. Every one of the actors sells a wavering sense that something is about to combust. They’re very much acting the saying, “You could cut the tension with a knife.” It’s razor sharp and never lets go once it has its hooks in you.
Again, I can see why Lionsgate might be hesitant to push the movie aggressively right now. This is a film that shows a society eventually transitioning to a period of surveillance via drones, where curfew for grown adults becomes a reality, census workers coming to your doors in the most invasive manner is the new normal, and watchlists determine who isn’t falling in line. It’s a scary notion and one that seems so eerily of the now. Everyone won’t be able to watch Anniversary and not feel its weight, but should you give it a chance, you’ll be gifted with a thrilling, compelling thriller that at least has something to say. Even if it’s not all that comfortable to listen to it.
Anniversary is now playing in theaters nationwide courtesy of Lionsgate.
The movie is scary in the sense that it feels all too real, and even though there are dashes of solid humor (mostly of the darkly funny variety), the movie only becomes more bleak, yet all the more intriguing as it moves along.
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GVN Rating
Hello! My name is Gaius Bolling: movie, TV, and pop culture junkie! The industry has been in my veins since I was a kid and I have carried that on through adulthood. I attended Los Angeles Film Academy and participated in their screenwriting and editing program. From there, I have learned to hone my skills in the world of entertainment journalism. Some of my favorite genres include horror, action, and drama and I hope to share my love of all of this with you.
