REVIEW: Anniversary (2025) Tries to Say A Lot, Without Saying Much At All

The words “Birth of a New Nation” leap out immediately when displayed on Ellen Taylor’s (Diane Lane) laptop. They invoke the horrifically racist propaganda film that revitalized the Klu Klux Klan in 1915, The Birth of a Nation. Immediately one assumes there will be a focus on racial injustice, discussions of the plight of Black Americans, maybe even a word or two about how capitalism still thrives off modern-day slavery. 

But no, “Anniversary” (2025) never gets into that. The reference feels like a red herring, a throwaway to invoke outrage. It’s used to show how “extreme” Elizabeth “Liz” Nettles (Phoebe Dynevor) is and how her ideas scared Professor Taylor so much she was booted out of Georgetown University.

Polluting the family tree

The entire film (co-written by director Jan Komasa and Lori Rosene-Gambino) is built on the premise of extremist centrism, which isn’t a particularly wild idea, but it’s one that isn’t as explored as “radical leftism” or the wave of right-wing conservatism. It plays with the idea of American people being so fed up with the divisive rhetoric of our two-party system that they’re willing to sacrifice privacy, free speech, and a whole lot more to live in “unity.” 

More interesting is how this story is told through the eyes of one wealthy, liberal family and those associated with them. The Taylor family are the perfect picture of healthy familial and romantic love; they’re incredibly supportive of one another, the kids still talk to their parents, parents still love each other after two decades. They’re a solid, stable family. That all goes to hell when Liz arrives at the Taylor parents’ 25th anniversary party, as their son’s date. 

Dynevor’s performance as Liz is unsettling at its core. You never know what she’s thinking even in the moments where she seems hurt or angry. Every move, every word, even her glances, feel calculated. She moves through the party and the Taylor home very much like an invasive species of some foreign plant. Professor Taylor and Liz’s tense dance at the party and throughout the film is very fun to watch. The professor is convinced Liz is only dating her son to get back at her for what happened at Georgetown, which obviously puts a wedge between her and Josh Taylor (Dylan O’Brien). 

The breakdown of family and American values

The story doesn’t linger after each Taylor celebration or holiday, it continuously skips one to two years into the future to show the growing, horrifying impact that Liz’s book (a different version of “The Change” paper she wrote in college) has had on American society. Each year marked by a different party, the get-togethers are more somber and a lot less familial. 

Lane plays the professor’s increasing frustration and rage with a quiet grace that you can feel in the pit of your stomach. Her family, her country, the foundation of her ideals are coming apart at the seams and she can’t do a damn thing to stop it. And the worst part? Her own son is leading the charge. The anti-democratic whispers may have started with Liz, but Josh spearheaded and eventually took over, much to both Liz and his siblings’ annoyance. 

This begs a question of the audience: who actually broke the family apart? Was it Liz, snaking her way in like some poisonous creature in the garden? Or was it Josh, who was resentful that he still had to rely on his parents for funds because he isn’t as successful as his siblings? His sister, Anna (Madeline Brewer), a famous comedian, calls this out very early on and then backtracks. 

The kids are not alright

The Taylor kids: Josh, Anna, Cynthia (Zoey Deutch), and Birdie (Mckenna Grace) all represent a different American archetype: a resentful son that spirals into extremism, a depressed lawyer that doesn’t who she is or what she wants, an outspoken lesbian rebel, and a quiet nerd that mostly lives in her own head. Each of their vices fuel the story in different ways, but the most impactful is Birdie’s. 

Through her, we see American youth start to rise up and push back against the corporate-infused fascist bonds being formed by a new centered “American” flag. Through her, we get a glimpse of how marginalized people and some minorities are responding to the swift change happening in this country. Her boyfriend of Asian descent, Moses, mentioned that his parents were getting nervous because the rhetoric reminded them of what they fled back home, why they even came to America. Eventually he and his family along with hosts of artists, scientists and other “free thinkers” fled the United States. In contrast, Cynthia’s Black partner, Rob (Daryl McCormack), joins “the Changers” after a brutal moment between the two lawyers.

Some of the most intriguing things happen along the fringes of the movie, but when the focus is on the central family it can drag a bit. How many times do we need to see the Taylor family depressed in their home or yelling at each other? The slow, painful march to the end of Paul Taylor’s restaurant (Kyle Chandler) felt pretty unnecessary and only shown to display deeper levels of Josh’s cruelty born out of resentment. In fact, Paul, for the most part, was just kind of there to frown or raise his voice slightly. He was largely a sounding board for the stronger personalities that surrounded him.

By the time we get to the 30th anniversary party, things have escalated to the point of barely disguised threats, bombastic violence, and domestic abuse in hushed tones. There is no way out for this family, no happy ending, it’s a relentless uphill battle until both Taylor parents are confronted with the complete loss of their entire family. That may not mean everyone is dead, but their family unit has collapsed completely.

Unhappy anniversary

Komasa makes a choice to start and end the film with Liz’s face being reflected back at her. In the beginning, she’s giving herself a mildly weird and premeditated pep talk and by the end, a look of grim satisfaction. 

All in all, “Anniversary” is an intense watch with incredibly strong performances from Lane, Grace, Brewer and Deutch that are hard to look away from. But it lacked the courage needed to go deeper. It calls out very specific fascist and racist concepts, but does nothing substantial with them. Instead we get characters spouting off facts about small pox blankets during a Thanksgiving dinner as a way to show their liberalism. It’s almost a diet version of a weightier, more nuanced story; less calories, less substance.