This review has been brought to you by the Change. “The Change, just do it.”
For those of us who have achieved enlightenment through the wonders of The Change, you’ll understand that Lionsgate’s new Anniversary is not your typical film. It presents as a typical family gathering, but as the rules go, leave politics and religion off the dinner table. What happens when those lines become blurred, and politics and religion seem to blur into a cult like following, and because the cult is so prominent you can’t help but bring it up. This is the kind of stuff that divides families,and you could quickly write it off as being “woke garbage” and some left leaning assault on the right, but then I’d just play the “you’re so vain” song, because every dystopian future isn’t directly about you. It isn’t the worlds fault tht you seem to be making a list of options, and with each one you choose “worst possible”. that means there are similarities between a movement that isn’t very old, and novels published nearly 100 years ago like Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984. Anniversary isn’t treading totally new ground, it is repeating that of those left behind by Orwell, Bradbury, and Huxley.
The young adult section has leaned quite a bit into this as well, with The Hunger Games, The Selection, and Divergent all being easy representations of society needing to believe in something, and that something ends up destroying the fabric of most lives. Anniversary has The Change, which is a little political, a little religious, and a little vague. Kind of like how Alex Garland made Civil War intentionally politically neutral, Anniversary opts more for the sheer concept that something like the change should be scary in and of itself, no matter where you come from. At the end, it becomes this surprisingly controlling force over what seems like a typical family gathering.
But for a family with Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler as matriarch and patriarch, this family sit down is anything but typical, as someone in the room has started to believe the hype of The change, which sparks conversation, and eventually spirals into more.I’m actually curious to see people react to this, because I assume it will be all over the place. Critics will likely bemoan the ambiguity, or claim the script isn’t as smart as it thinks it is. Perhaps it just scrapes the surface, or maybe the third act goes too far. I saw all these different routes like Zack Galafanakis adding up numbers in the Hangover.
For me, like Civicl War, I did need it to have a bit more bite. I needed to know more about the change and how the dynamics work, and less about the ideology behind it. It seems to move fast, and I didn’t quite understand why. Lane and Chandler are both really good, but I also enjoyed Dylan O’Brien (who deserves an Oscar nomination this year for Twinless), Madeline Brewer, and Zoey Deutsch. It’s the beginning of a more interesting thinkpiece, and had someone like Aaron Sorkin stepped in, we might have had a bit clearer direction to it. hell, or even Armando Iannucci for a lighter touch. it does feel like someone is wading into a politically charged arena who isn’t quite ready for the angry mob awaiting them should they step on a crack.
Anniversary though, checked off the box of “did I like it?”, but most importantly, it made me want to see it again, or show it to other people. It will not be for everyone, and I have no idea if this will trend fresh or rotten. however, that isn’t always the point. I didn’t like Joker Folie Aux Deux or Eddington, but I appreciated the swing. I appreciate when a filmmaker is trying to make a bold choice, in every way possible. Anniversary isn’t quite that, and I wish it played it a little less safe, and leaned more into the nightmare of it. We can handle it. we’ve all seen The Handmaid’s Tale.
Final Thoughts: Have you made The Change? If not? Anniversary starts out as comfort food before reminding you how quickly it can all change.
Fresh: Final Grade: 7/10
