Anniversary Movie Review

Anniversary (2025)

Rent Anniversary on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Lori Rosene-Gambino (screenplay), Jan Komasa and Lori Rosene-Gambino (story)
Directed by: Jan Komasa
Starring: Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, Madeline Brewer, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O'Brien, Mckenna Grace
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
The close-knit Taylor family is caught in the turmoil of a controversial new political movement known as "The Change."

Verdict
I can't believe I hadn't heard of this movie. It's incredible. The story is gripping as we watch the disintegration of freedom under the guise of unity. What the movement entails past that is unclear, but whatever it was is weaponized to take power and create a police state. We see how easy it is to conform and how difficult it is to stand your ground through one family. Unity has never looked so chilling. It's a call to patriotism, but the dangers of not conforming are real. The Taylor family is torn apart, trying to stand their ground to disastrous consequences. At the end we're left to wonder about the roots of this movement and its true intentions.
Watch It.

Review
It's the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary for Ellen (Diane Lane) and Paul (Kyle Chandler) Taylor. They're hosting a big party where all four of their children, Cynthia, Anna, Josh, and Birdie, have returned. Their son Josh (Dylan O'Brien) brings his girlfriend Elizabeth (Phoebe Dynevor). Ellen remembers her, a former student who wrote a radical paper about a one party state and later dropped out of school. Now Elizabeth is working on a book that seems to incorporate the same ideas. Elizabeth's departing message is telling Ellen she's not afraid of her.

Two years later and Elizabeth's book has taken off. The book argues for one party, though she describes it as a way to unite people. Ellen doesn't like Liz's ideas, though it could be due to her inability to change Liz's mind. When Liz is offered a guest lecture spot at Georgetown, Ellen is incensed that those ideas are embraced. The book was published by a think tank, and Ellen asserts it was just to peddle their ideology. Despite that, the ideas prove popular as people identify with the themes of unity under "The Change." Paul tries to remain impartial while the rest of the family is against the movement, except for Josh and Liz who are riding the success.

Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, Phoebe Dynevor, Dylan O'Brien play Ellen, Paul, Elizabeth, Josh

While the book purports to bring people together, when comedian Anna (Madeline Brewer) disparages the book at a show the crowd revolts and attacks her. She's forced to flee and go into hiding due to persecution. The book is about unity, but if you fight it you'll be beaten into submission. No one knows where Anna went, and the family blames Liz and her book.

The movie continues to jump forward in time, and just as Ellen predicted, America becomes a one party state. Dissent is not tolerated. Josh and Liz have kids now, but Josh doesn't even seem to like them. He's also more pompous as the book has made his family rich and powerful. At a family get together he makes his sister Birdie's (Mckenna Grace) friend Moses uncomfortable. Moses talks about wanting to be a journalist, and Josh issues a veiled threat about how reporters get murdered when they aren't careful.

Ellen is harsh about her disgust for the book and movement. We get why, but it also gives Liz an upper hand as her ideas have proven popular. It makes Ellen look petty. Josh criticizes his father Paul's failing restaurant, insulting it as a business that's just a bad idea. We wonder how Josh even knows about his father's financial problems, but then Josh offers to invest. Is it some kind of bribe or payoff? Maybe it's just a way to exert control over his parents.

The whole movie is a metaphor. We see the Taylor's other daughter Cynthia's (Zoey Deutch) husband Rob fall into the movement. He's slowly indoctrinated into the 'change' mindset and it erodes his marriage. Like Josh, he's certainly worse off for the cause. Paul is warned that non-changers are being targeted. The family needs to be careful with "The Census" which is a veiled attempt to track people and their loyalties. It's a means to root out dissidents, reinforcing the country has become a police state. Paul and Ellen provide non-committal answers to avoid suspicion.

Kyle Chandler, Diane Lane play Paul, Ellen Taylor

I can't believe I didn't hear about this movie. It's certainly timely. This presents a new patriotism, but it's rooted in join or die. If you don't embrace it, you're not a patriot. You must consent to the loss of freedom and choice. It's easy to coerce people to join when they're threatened. This makes you consider the country and how performative politics has replaced values.

The final sequence occurs fives years from where the movie began. The Taylor family is broken. We can see that in how happy they were when this movie started and how solemn they are now. This sequence is emblematic of what the movement does to people. Birdie feels forced to take a stand while Josh turns in his own family as criminals. Josh is injured in the resulting fray and Liz shows no compassion for him. A few scenes earlier Liz told Ellen she needed help with Josh, that he was different. We've seen him transform into a callous jerk. When she orders soldiers to take him away, is that an easy way to get rid of him or was it the topper to destroying a teacher and her family that embarrassed her to her core years ago?

We're left wondering if Liz was willing to destroy the county because a professor didn't like her radical paper or if she created a movement that got out of hand. When Ellen and Liz first met, Liz stated she didn't want to change Ellen's family. Ellen's response is to not underestimate her family. Who knew that would be a chilling predictor. Did Ellen want to destroy a family or was she just riding the success of her propaganda and eliminating anyone that stood in her way?

This is one of the best recent movies of which no one has heard. Even a good message can have harrowing consequences, with this 'the change' is a Trojan horse that topples the government.