Daniel Day-Lewis returns in Anemone directed by his son

Daniel Day-Lewis is returning to the screen after an eight-year hiatus, starring in Anemone, a family drama directed by his son Ronan DayLewis in his feature debut. The film, co-written by father and son, will world premiere at the New York Film Festival before a limited release on October 3 and a wide rollout on October 10. Focus Features is distributing the project, which also features Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley, and Safia OakleyGreen, with production support from Plan B Entertainment and Daniel Day-Lewis and Brad Pitt serving as executive producers.

The return marks Day-Lewis’s first screen appearance since Phantom Thread (2017), a role that earned him widespread acclaim and several nominations. Since then, the actor has largely stepped away from acting, making Anemone a high-profile comeback that has drawn attention from admirers and industry observers alike. The film is pitched as an absorbing Northern England-set drama about the complicated bonds of family—specifically the ties between fathers, sons, and brothers—and how legacies shaped by political and personal violence ripple across generations.

Ronan DayLewis, who writes and directs, brings a closely...