Plot
The affluent Taylor clan gathers for the 25th wedding anniversary of progressive/libertarian Georgetown professor Ellen and restaurateur Paul. Attending are their four children: Cynthia, an environmental lawyer like her husband Rob; Anna, a lesbian comic with a caustic wit; the teenage Birdie, a bohemian would-be wildlife scientist; and Josh, an unsuccessful novelist -- and his poised fiancée Liz Nettles, who practices greetings in a mirror before meeting the family.
Liz is polite, but Ellen realizes she was a student who left Georgetown after Ellen challenged her totalitarian ideas in a paper advocating a one-party state. Liz shocks Ellen by gifting her new book, written with Josh's help, The Change: The New Social Contract, the cover showing an American flag with the stars placed at the center, supposedly to represent Americans uniting in the political center. Leaving, Liz tells Ellen privately that she is not afraid of Ellen anymore.
Two years later, The Change has become hugely influential; at the Taylors' Thanksgiving gathering, Anna's assistant/lover says it helped her reconnect to her parents. Liz is now pregnant with twins, and Josh, now with a makeover, has grown more confident, even arrogant. However, the four Taylor women are not enthusiastic about Liz or the book, which is sponsored by the Cumberland Corporation. In the confrontational atmosphere, Liz first feels sick, then appears to break water and go to the hospital, though it is later revealed that she only urinated from stress.
Liz gives Birdie a password to a noted virology database. Shortly after, a video of Ellen vandalizing a neighbor's "Change" American flag goes viral.
The following year, Ellen has lost her Georgetown job. A totalitarian "Change" society is in place. Anna, beaten up when making fun of the "Change" movement at a show, is in hiding. Liz offers Birdie a job at Cumberland studying virology, which disgusts Ellen, who threatens to kill Liz. Rob joyfully announces that Cynthia is pregnant; however, when they leave, she reveals she had an abortion, fearful of bringing a child into the world with its current political discord. In a fit of rage and grief, Rob drives off and leaves her behind. Josh offers to support Paul's failing restaurant, but Paul suspects he is doing it to find Anna.
A year later, Rob has joined the "Change". Cynthia, addicted to sleeping pills, lives with her parents. Birdie's journalist-student boyfriend Moses drops by, but feels threatened by Josh mentioning a journalist who was dismembered, and leaves. Census-takers ("Enumerators") arrive and ask Ellen and Paul, whose restaurant has closed, questions designed to find Anna, enraging them. The Enumerators show photos of Birdie at a protest, threatening jail; Ellen capitulates and endorses the "Change", angering Birdie who implies her mother has sold out.
The next year at the Taylors' 30th anniversary party, Liz, dressed in red as Ellen was at the first anniversary, speaks privately to Ellen, asking her to help with Josh's unspecified strange behavior; Ellen slaps her. Liz and Josh then invite Ellen and Paul to dance to one of their favorite songs. While they dance, a clown unexpectedly arrives and plays music while dancing and waving to the couple. The clown enters the house and turns out to be Anna, who speaks to the confused, despondent Cynthia.
Josh suspects it is Anna and enters the house. On television, the news announces there was a horrific bio-weapon attack at the Washington, D.C. Cumberland headquarters, where Birdie works; Birdie appears on camera and performs a suicide bombing. Ellen and Paul are devastated, sobbing; Anna joins them.
Cynthia stabs Josh, though not fatally. She then exits the house with the bloody knife, and police officers open fire. The police also shoot at Anna, who runs from the house and dives into the sea.
The police enter the house and put bags over Ellen's and Paul's heads, though Paul says it reminds him of when he first met Ellen, in front of René Magritte's The Lovers painting, which shows lovers with cloth-covered heads. Josh asks a policeman to keep his parents together, but the police ignore him and wrestle him to the ground. A policeman asks Liz what to do with him; she says that he is with his parents. The police remove the Taylors.
Liz, having destroyed the Taylor family, looks at a picture of them in happier days; she looks distraught, but her reverie is interrupted by a small smile.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 69% of 54 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Parlaying a strained state of the union into narrative suspense, Anniversary's effectiveness as a political parable comes to a split decision while its status as a solid thriller wins plenty of support." [9] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [10]
The Hollywood Reporter's review praises the film in its review titled: "Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler Lead a Stupendous Cast in a Family’s-Eye View of Authoritarian Politics": "Lane is fantastic at expressing Ellen’s seething, unbound disdain for Liz and everything she represents. In comparison to her reactiveness and condescension, Paul, beautifully underplayed by Chandler. (...) O’Brien delivers a blood-chilling metamorphosis. He holds the screen with a tightly bound menace." [11]
Deadline's Pete Hammond praises the film: "Lane is still one of the most talented actors out there and carries this off in style. Chandler is well-matched here as well. (...) With this cast, it’s a shame it doesn’t have much more of a profile. What it has to say is important, to say the least." [12]
Matt Zoller Seitz's review at RogerEbert.com gives Anniversary 3.5 stars out of 4 praising its boldness: "That ‘Anniversary' depicts oppressed and terrorized Americans doing riskier things under far bleaker circumstances saves it from doomerism, leaving viewers with shreds of hope." [13]
Rory O’Connor of The Film Stage praised Jan Komasa’s bold transition to English-language filmmaking, calling the film “relentlessly watchable” and comparing its energy to a “battering ram.” He highlighted strong performances from Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, and Phoebe Dynevor, though noted occasional overacting and uneven tone, describing the film as “a nasty exploitation flick in prestige clothing.” [14]
Some critics reject the film’s deliberate avoidance of political specificity, wishing instead for it to declare itself more openly in 2025's ideological conflict. Ross McIndoe from Slant writes that film "strains credulity": "This is an overtly political film that’s hesitant to express its own political views." [15] The reviewer still praises acting calling Madeline Brewer's acting "delightfully spiky" and Dylan O'Brien's performance "a skin-crawling portrayal, and one with far too many real-life parallels".
Indiewire review also highlights acting but takes issue with the film’s refusal to take a clearer political stance, seeing its dystopian abstraction as incomplete if not evasive: "Taut and well-acted as this queasy little thriller can be, its unflinching tale of corporate authoritarianism is much too streamlined to reflect the emotional truth of watching totalitarianism in motion." [16]
Pavel Snapkou of Showbiz by PS was more critical, writing that the film “tries to be about everything at once” and lacks a clear stance on its political themes. He found it “too self-important and out of touch,” despite praising the Thanksgiving dinner sequence and the cast’s performances, ultimately calling Anniversary “a safe and slightly tone-deaf political thriller.” [17]
