Some films are just ripped from the headlines, but in the case of the new political thriller Anniversary, it appears that this story of an authoritarian government and one-party system taking over America has simply stumbled coincidentally on to the headlines blazing daily about the ever-evolving threat to our democracy. That said, at its heart and soul Anniversary is a family story, a cautionary tale about one upscale clan being torn apart by political change and a door being closed on the serene life they once knew.
It is telling that this film, which very much is about America and scarily prescient about where it might be heading, was shot in Ireland by Polish director Jan Komasa, making his English-language debut. His Eastern European background and experience living in authoritarian governments from both left and right serves the story of what, for most who grew up in America, would seem an impossibility to ever touch our shores. It no longer is, and even though this film was shot in the summer of 2023 — before anyone seriously thought Donald Trump could ascend to the presidency again, before Project 2025 became a reality and before American democracy was no longer a sure thing — there is something eerily plausible here, even if it tries not to specifically take sides. The words Republican and Democrat are rarely, if ever, uttered.
On the one hand, you could write it off the same way we write off the Purge movies or paranoid thrillers of the 1970s. Nah, it can’t happen here, can it? It is almost soft-boiled science fiction, until it is closer to documentary.
Placing it all in the context of the changing dynamic in a once-unbreakable family unit is inspired. Plotwise, we meet a thriving family in a nice home in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. Ellen Taylor (Diane Lane) is a progressive professor who professes not to be really left or right. Agreeable husband Paul (Kyle Chandler) owns a restaurant, and they have four mostly grown kids: The oldest, Anna (Madeline Brewer), is a queer comedian; Cynthia (Zoey Deutch), a lawyer married to nice guy Rob (Daryl McCormack); hopeful writer Josh (Dylan O’Brien); and finally idealistic and shy teen Birdie (Mckenna Grace).
Trouble starts at the 25th anniversary celebration of Ellen and Paul, when Josh brings along his new girlfriend, Elizabeth “Liz” Nettles ( Phoebe Dynevor), and she instantly butts heads with Ellen, who remembers her as a student eight years earlier. Liz was a troublemaker who wrote disturbing papers about a singular vision of “democracy” that would be single-party rule, a way to instantly unite a divided country. Ellen saw it for what it was, a call to authoritarianism, and shuns Liz, who has a weird kind of All About Eve vibe to her. The gift she has brought Ellen is her just-published book called The Change, which contains her dystopian recipe for America’s future. Ellen laughs it off.
Cut to two years later, and tensions rise at Thanksgiving dinner, where Liz and an increasingly radicalized Josh are now married. She’s pregnant with twins. Sparks fly as Liz’s book is now a global bestseller, and even Anna’s lesbian friend is impressed, telling her it changed her life. Ellen is having none of this.
Another year goes by, and the twins are screaming as the family gathers for a birthday lunch for Paul that really grows intense when it is clear Josh has gone to the dark side. He is a key supporter as America is changing its democratic ways, as evidenced by the number of homes on the block displaying the new flag, which has has the stars moved from top corner left to the center of the stripes. Sadness envelops the family as well, with Anna picked up by authorities and gone missing. It gets more dark from here. Much more.
The idea of Anniversary is to see this family slowly torn apart by political upheaval, a call to uniformity. Flying the flag for resistance, though, are Ellen and Paul, even as their cozy life is shattering (at one point, a crazed Ellen is caught on video snatching and destroying the neighbor’s flags, and it goes viral). The focus remains on them as they try to hold on to what family is left, even as things fall apart for each member in harrowing ways. A scene where two dead-eyed female Enumerators, claiming they are “Census takers,” show their real stripes to Ellen and Paul in chilling fashion.
Although this is all meant as entertainment and “fiction” — no resemblance to persons living or dead, ha ha — watching it now two years after it was shot is just a little too close for comfort in a Trumpverse that seems determined to remake America in its vision; it’s now a country where people are being snatched off the streets daily by masked agents for the government and locked away, separated from families. Told exclusively though the eyes of a family, and not the politicians or perpetrators who are largely just referred to as a Deep State company called Cumberland, is an effective idea and certainly hits close to home(s).
Komasa avoids the curse of many foreign directors making English-language debuts and seems comfortable in this milieu. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Lori Rosene-Gambino, and even though the latter part of the film drifts too obviously into over-the-top melodramatics, the core of its message survives intact and seriously chilling.
Lane is still one of the most talented actors out there and carries this off in style. Chandler is well-matched here as well. As the interloper, Dynevor is just creepy enough to be believable, and fortunately her ideological character doesn’t cross over into the stuff of Hand That Rocks the Cradle or Single White Female; I was worried for a while. O’Brien is quite bloodlessly convincing as he comes under the spell of his wife and takes it too far. Deutch, Brewer and Grace all deliver, though McCormack’s big scene falls into the category of less would have been better.
Producers of the Lionsgate and Fifth Season production are Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, Paula Mae Schwartz and Kate Churchill. Lionsgate seems to be just dropping this into theaters, largely unannounced. I had never heard of it until getting a press release offering a link. With this cast, it’s a shame it doesn’t have much more of a profile. What it has to say is important, to say the least.
Title: Anniversary
Distributor: Lionsgate
Release date: October 29, 2025
Director: Jan Komasa
Screenwriters: Lori Rosene-Gambino and Jan Komasa
Cast: Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, Madeline Brewer, Zoey Deutch, Phoebe Dynevor, Mckenna Grace, Daryl McCormack, Dylan O’Brien, Sky Yang
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr 51 mins
