Have you ever watched a movie that completely caught you off guard? For me that film is Anniversary because after watching a cleverly deceptive trailer that gave nothing away about the real story within the film, I was shocked in a good way by the subject matter. Anniversary is not what it seems. The trailer makes you think that it’s just a simple case of a former student getting revenge on a teacher… a mixture of “Single White Female” and “Fatal Attraction.” Don’t be fooled and I’ll go ahead and give you this one spoiler, It’s far from just a simple revenge story. This movie is a politically charged thriller that is not only scary but timely. It’s a film You should see. Normally, I would go in depth about a film, even to the point of giving away some spoilers so this may be the one true spoiler-free review I’ve ever written because to truly appreciate the movie as the audience, you should go in blind and be completely surprised. The best kinds of movies are the ones where you never see it coming. I love those kinds of movies and we definitely don’t get enough of them.
Anniversary is filled with a lot of great performances from Kyle Chandler to Diane Lane, but the standout performance goes with Phoebe Dynevor who plays the main antagonist, Liz. Her character is cunning and devious and more importantly, sympathetic. That’s the scary part about her character. Diane Lane plays a highly regarded professor that in ever changing society maybe too liberal for her own good, but at the same time the kind of professor that challenges our thinking. We used to call these great professors, but now they’re demonized in real life. On the surface Liz is a character who starts dating the oldest son and when they show up at the anniversary party for his parents, you immediately think that she is there just to disrupt the family, but keep in mind this is a political thriller so it is her radical ideas that have more far-reaching implications on society especially as a best-selling author. That’s all I can say without really spoiling the movie. But Phoebe is great in this movie especially as a character that so easily makes the professor look too radical. I don’t know if the design of the story was meant to be commentary on what is going on in America, but it’s a scary thought to see how close it is to real life. Then again this is the kind of thing that can happen in any country. The story serves as a great historical lesson on how fascist regimes are born out of radical movements that seek to change society for the better, but end up being more diabolical in their singular thought process to control society. The heart of the story is about such a movement and how the family who isn’t really that radical, but lives for free speech and free thinking becomes villains in what used to be a free society…. I know, I’m already venturing into spoiler territory but I’ll stop there. It’s a great story filled with wonderful performances by seasoned actors who can so easily make us connect to their characters and make them sympathetic even when they are the villain. But I also have to give a shout out to actors like Dylan O’Brien who has never really played a villain, but essentially is one in this movie. McKenna Grace offers another wonderful performance, a very adult performance, and I say that because we’ve watched her grow up on screen. She’s played cute and lovable characters and such films as Troop Zero and Gifted as well as Phoebe Spangler and the new Ghostbusters movies. This is the first true adult role that she has taken on where she plays a young innocent who does become radicalized and ends up doing something you never thought her character would do. She was great. As a nerd I am a love watching her as Phoebe Spangler But it’s great to see her play characters who’s back is against the wall and does something so unexpected by the end of the movie. That’s all I will say without spoiling it. As much as I love this movie in the performances it’s not perfect… here’s why!
Anniversary is one of my favorite movies of the year. It’s a very surprising movie because I didn’t see any of it coming. However The story is so much bigger than what is portrayed in a 2-hour movie. It’s a complex story that in my opinion can’t really be told in 2 hours. The biggest flaw of this movie is that it’s an actual movie. There’s a lot they compact into 2 hours that really should be a series on TV or streaming channel. Even if it’s just a limited series, there’s so much more to the story that you need a longer run time. A great example is the limited series on HBO called The Plot Against America which is based off a book by the same name. It’s a story that needed six episodes to really tell the full scope of the allegory that it was trying to tell and that’s what Anniversary should have been. I made the same argument in my review of Nuremberg and one of the things I noticed is films with a big complex story give us highlights but not the full scale and that’s why some stories need to be a Dramatic Miniseries instead of a movie. This is really my biggest complaint. How we tell a story is important… they should be told in the right way, and not everything is meant for the big screen. We see movies split up into two parts like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows turned into a two-part movie or the best versions of Lord of the rings which are nearly 4 hours long and even that skipped a lot of stuff from the books. I have so many questions having watched this movie that it leaves me wanting more and maybe I would have been more satisfied with a six episode mini-series.
Even though I complain how the story was told in a 2-hour movie, it’s a wonderful story that everybody should see. It’s timely. It’s an allegory that society needs because without understanding history or understanding the real motives behind any kind of movement that’s what leads nations down a dark past too quickly to fascism. And while I will not go on and on how this story perfectly encapsulates the movement of “Make America Great Gain,” it certainly worthy of discussion about this story’s commentary on real life manifestations within our society. That’s the ultimate compliment of this movie. Will we ever get an actual series, maybe not, but the way the movie ends, I think it would be great to dive into the world that this film creates. What happens to all of these characters down the road, what happens to American society? Maybe that’s why there should be a series and this movie serves as a prequel or a pilot sorts to a bigger story. One of my favorite shows of all time is the reboot of Battlestar Galactica…before we got to the series they did a 4-hour miniseries that set up everything. It’s like watching a 4-hour movie that serves as the perfect prologue to a larger story and I hope that Anniversary as a film can be that for a series down the road. Anniversary is one of the best movies of the year and it’s a film that everybody needs to see. It’s the kind of story that changes perspectives and challenges our ideas. It’s the perfect story that holds a mirror to what our society can become. There are a ton of award-winning performances that make it work seeing. I think this is a movie that should be seen in theaters, but if you don’t get a chance to see it, it’s worth renting or buying on digital. I highly recommend Anniversary and for me, it is one of the best movies of 2025!
