Anniversary Parent Guide
Terrifying and ominous, this disturbing film raises big questions about democracy, liberty, and the rule of law.
Parent Movie Review
It’s a joyful day for Paul and Ellen Taylor (Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler). They’re celebrating their 25th anniversary, a quarter-century marked by their happy family and successful careers, hers as a professor and his as a restaurateur. All four kids are home for the party: Cynthia (Zoey Deutch), the successful lawyer; Anna (Madeline Brewer), the edgy comedian; Josh (Dylan O’Brien), the struggling sci-fi novelist; and Birdie (Mckenna Grace), the budding teen scientist who still lives at home. Unexpectedly, Josh brings a plus-one – his new girlfriend, Liz Nettles (Phoebe Dynevor) – and the mood shifts.
Ellen feels a prickle of unease when she recognizes Liz, a past student with radical views and a disdain for democracy. When she learns that Liz has published a best-selling book based on her thesis, Ellen’s unease deepens into dismay. Liz’s book The Change: The New Social Contract, advocates a new America, one that seeks unity and wholeness by eliminating political parties and radically altering the American political system.
The success of Liz’s book, bankrolled into a national movement by a large corporation, changes the family dynamics. Almost every viewer of this film will relate to the newly painful family dinners filled with strained politeness, passive-aggressive comments, and some outright arguing.
But that’s just the beginning. As the Taylor family fractures under the pressures wrought by the Change, American society is transformed in alarming ways…
The genius of Anniversary is that it never provides any detail about the Change’s ideology. We never know if it’s right- or left-wing; what kind of economic or social policies it advocates. All we see are the symbols – a new flag with “the people” in the center, the upbeat TV commercials – and the burgeoning coercive apparatus of the state, determined to create a homogenous society, free of conflict or dissent. This choice by the screenwriters is fortuitous because it frees the movie from left/right tribalism and focuses on its clear messages about the need for diversity, dissent, and creativity, not only to safeguard democracy but also to ensure human flourishing.
The film’s powerful message comes with some negative content, specifically non-explicit plot-related violence and over 90 profanities, including at least 62 sexual expletives. The profanity is particularly frustrating because it’s the reason for the movie’s Restricted rating; all other negative material is within PG-13 limits.
Despite its content issues, I found Anniversary to be a powerful, chilling movie. I have lived in an authoritarian state, and I can attest that this production provides a prescient look at what happens in countries when dissent is crushed, diversity demonized, and the rule of law eliminated. This isn’t a fun film to watch; it’s terrifying and deeply depressing. But it’s also a lighthouse, warning us of the rocks on which democracy can flounder and fail.
Directed by Jan Komasa. Starring Diane Lane, Phoebe Dynevor, Dylan O'Brien, Kyle Chandler, Zoey Deutch. Running time: 112 minutes. Theatrical release October 29, 2025. Updated October 31, 2025
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Anniversary
Rating & Content Info
Why is Anniversary rated R? Anniversary is rated R by the MPAA for language throughout, some violent content, drug use and sexual references
Violence: There are scenes of angry family members shouting at one another. An adult destroys an altered American flag. There are scenes of minor vandalism. Red paint is sprayed on a home as a threat. Death threats are uttered. A woman is hunted. A performer is assaulted on stage; there’s mention of serious injuries. A husband and wife have a shouting match: she hits him and he forces her out of the car. A woman is slapped across the face. It’s implied that a man is abusive towards his wife but there is no detail. Spoiler: A woman kills herself and untold numbers of people when she drops an unspecified biological hazard in a building. A woman non-fatally stabs a man and is then shot (off-screen) by police. A fleeing woman is shot at. A man and woman are grabbed by police and their faces are covered.
Sexual Content: There are several scenes of men and women kissing. There’s brief mention of a lesbian sexual relationship. There’s mention of a past abortion and a joke about castration. A woman uses a slang term for oral sex in a humorous comment. Spoiler: A woman tells her husband that she has terminated her pregnancy for personal reasons.
Profanity: The script features over 90 profanities, including at least 62 sexual expletives, 14 terms of deity, 10 scatological curses, and a handful of minor swear words and crude anatomical terms.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Adults drink alcohol at social events and with meals. One adult drinks heavily. Adults smoke cigarettes and marijuana, in a jursidiction where it is legal. A father jokes about adult children finding his “weed stash
Page last updated October 31, 2025