After eight years away from the screen, three-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis is returning to acting in Anemone, an upcoming supernatural horror film directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, in his feature debut. The project marks the elder Day-Lewis’s first performance since Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread (2017), which was originally announced as his final film.
Anemone follows Ray Stoker (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his brother Jim (Sean Bean) as they confront dark, otherworldly forces tied to their family’s past. The cast also includes Samantha Morton, Samuel Bottomley, and Safia Oakley-Green.
Ronan Day-Lewis co-wrote the screenplay with his father, making the project a deeply personal collaboration. The film’s creative team also includes Emmy-winning costume designer Jane Petrie (The Crown) and production designer Chris Oddy (Chernobyl).
Anemone is set to premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival before opening in select U.S. theaters on October 3, 2025, via Focus Features. The film will expand nationwide a week later, on October 10.
Day-Lewis’s decision to return to acting has already generated significant anticipation. Known for his meticulous, immersive approach to performance, he is the only male actor to have won three Academy Awards for Best Actor, with acclaimed turns in My Left Foot (1989), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Lincoln (2012). His collaboration with his son adds a new chapter to his storied career, and Anemone is poised to be one of the year’s most closely watched releases.