WFG RATING: A-

Lionsgate and Fifth Season presents a Nick Wechsler Productions/Chockstone Pictures/Churchill Films production in association with Metropolitan Films International and Anniversary US Productions. Directed by Jan Komasa. Produced by Kate Churchill, Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, and Paula Mae Schwartz. Written by Lori Rosene-Gambino; story by Komasa and Rosese-Gambino. Cinematography by Piotr Sobocinski Jr. Edited by Michal Czarnecki.

Stars Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, Madeline Brewer, Zoey Deutch, McKenna Grace, Dylan O’Brien, Dylan McCormick, and Phoebe Dynevor. 

A one strong bonded family finds itself unraveling thanks to the actions of one in this tense thriller from Jan Komasa.

Paul and Ellen Taylor are celebrating their 25th anniversary and things are great. They are joined by their three daughters Anna, Birdy, and Cynthia. However, their son Josh, a writer, has brought his new girlfriend Liz to the party. Liz is instantly welcomed by the family and things seem to go well. However, Liz, who was a former student of Ellen, has a sinister motive that she plans to use to destroy everything she worked for. 

When she was a student, Liz had written a paper on a one-party rule that resulted in humiliation. The movement, known as “The Change”, has now become a reality and slowly, the Taylors’ lives begin to unravel. The once strong bond between the family members have begun to result in rivalries, political turmoil, and unemployment over the course of five years with the Taylors’ 30th anniversary set to change their lives forever. 

We’ve had films where the ideals of politics can ruin so much as nations such as The Purge franchise and other dystopian-like films. However, this film, from Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa takes the ideology of a dominant one-party and how one believer, perhaps the creator of the movement, infiltrates a family in the name of revenge and causes chaos within the members. Setting the course of five years, it’s clear that this meshing of politics and personal revenge shows how good the cast is from their emotional ranges going 180 throughout the film.

Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler are excellent as the parents Paul and Ellen, the latter a politics teacher at a university. The three daughters are quite eclectic with McKenna Grace as youngest Birdy, Zoey Deutch as environmental lawyer Cynthia, and Madeline Brewer as viral comic Anna. Dylan O’Brien is aspiring writer Josh, who becomes the unexpected catalyst when he brings his new girlfriend Liz, played by a scene chewing Phoebe Dyvenor. It is Liz that becomes the thread that unravels this family over the course of five years.

It is insane to see this family go from happy to this internal conflict that affects the lives of everyone. One shocking twist involves Cynthia and her husband, played by Daryl McCormick and Anna going from being this fun and witty person to becoming somewhat of a revolutionary against The Change and hides out. As for Birdy, the whole situation slowly leads to her suffering internally while in the awakening of Anna’s disappearance, Paul and Ellen even start to dissent where naming a stranded dog becomes a cause for argument. This is the result of Liz’s motive of revenge for what had happened in her college days. It is the final ten minutes that prove to be the most shocking.

Anniversary is very tense and emotional as the motive of revenge leads to the dissension of a once happy family with some great performances from the cast. The ideology of a new brand of political reign just adds fuel to the fire with a shocking finale.

The film will be released in theaters nationwide on October 29