Anemone: “It was a question that crossed the mind of many a movie fan: would we ever say Daniel Day-Lewis act in a film again?”

When it was announced that Daniel Day-Lewis would be making his return to acting with his film Anemone – though he has been at pains to stress he never used the word “retire” – there was inevitably huge excitement amongst film fans internationally.

Celebrated as one of the all-time screen greats, having been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for fully the sixth time – he boasts a record three wins – in 2018, for Paul Thomas Anderson’s bravura period drama The Phantom Thread, it seemed as if the famously private Day-Lewis might well have been done with life in the media spotlight.

Of course, the actor had form in this regard, having previously taken a separate five-year hiatus from acting, after starring in Jim Sheridan’s The Boxer in 1997.

Then, the actor surprised everyone by heading off to Italy to work as an apprentice shoemaker.  That particular period of exile ended in 2002, when Day-Lewis took the lead role in Martin Scorsese’s long-planned passion project, the historical epic Gangs Of New York, for which he received the by-now customary Best Actor nomination.

But throughout his near-decade absence from the screen, it was a question that crossed the mind of many a movie fan: would we ever say Daniel Day-Lewis act in a film again?

It was always likely to take something special to coax him back to the acting arena, and thus it proved. The now 68-year-old star has returned to play the lead in the directorial debut of none other than his son, 27-year Ronan Day-Lewis. The father and son team collaborated on the writing of the script, which focuses on a pair of estranged brothers, Ray (Day-Lewis) and Jem (Sean Bean), who served together in the British Army at the height of the Troubles.

With Ray having fled 20 years ago to a life off-grid in a remote forest, Jem sets off to bring him back to his ex, Nessa (Samantha Morton), and troubled son Brian (Samuel Bottomley), both of whom Jem grew close to in his brother’s absence. Alongside Daniel’s typically commanding performance and Ronan’s wonderfully atmospheric direction, one of the most compelling aspects of the film is the haunting score by 39-year-old English producer Bobby Krlic, who has also released music under the alias The Haxan Cloak.

Connoisseurs of the soundtracks of Trent Reznor and Jonny Greenwood will find much to admire in Krlic’s score for Anemone, which like much of his work, masterfully blends moody electronica, avant-garde soundscapes and gothic folk textures. The compositions brilliantly enhance the film’s mood, as the tension simmers between Ray and Jem. Indeed, Krlic’s music is one of the components that has made Anemone one of the most talked-about and anticipated films of the autumn.

The soundtrack is also the latest step in a career that has seen Krlic become a cult star and one of the most in-demand composers and producers around. Debuting in 2011 with the stunning album The Haxan Cloak, Krlic followed it two years later with Excavation, quickly earning a devoted following for his dark brand of ambient electronica.

Sean Bean stars as Jem and Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Ray in director Ronan Day-Lewis’s ANEMONE, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

If it was easy to detect similarities between Krlic’s output and industrial legends like Nine Inch Nails and Coil, it was perhaps no surprise that was he quickly drafted to work on soundtracks alongside Trent Reznor’s long-time producing partner in NIN, Atticus Ross. First up was the 2015 thriller Blackhat, directed by Heat and Manhunter legend Michael Mann, which found Krlic assisting on the soundtrack assembled by both Ross and his brother, Leo, as well as Hollywood super-composer Harry Gregson-Williams.

The following year, Krlic reunited with the Ross brothers, as well as working with Claudia Sarne, on the score for heist thriller Triple 9, helmed by Aussie filmmaker John Hillcoat, renowned for his cinematic adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, as well directing TV hits like Lioness and Black Mirror.

Having put together an increasingly impressive body of work, the next step was for Krlic to strike out on his own, and he very quickly found himself aboard one of the finest horror movies of the 21stcentury. Having made a classic directorial debut with 2018’s Hereditary, Ari Aster swiftly followed it up with the folk-horror smash Midsommar, a stunning one-two that saw him hailed as one of the pre-eminent auteurs of his generation.

Krlic outdid himself with the score for Midsommar, a brilliantly realised collection of eerie soundscapes that enjoyed enormous acclaim. Now installed as Aster’s go-to composer, the producer would also assemble the music for the director’s next outings, 2023’s Beau Is Afraid and this year’s Eddington, the latter soundtrack written alongside Daniel Pemberton.

Alongside his composing work, Krlic has enjoyed a parallel career as a hugely successful producer. Highlights have included his role as co-producer on Bjork’s 2015 album Vulnicura, alongside the Icelandic singer and electronica maverick Arca, and another co-producing effort on Death Magic, the 2015 album by brilliant LA noiseniks Health.

As if he didn’t already have enough strings to his bow, Krlic has also branched out into other areas. One of the most exciting projects saw him team up with legendary NYC noise-rockers Swans, to create some new music for a special ‘Halloween Pass’ online edition of the Rockstar Games smash, Red Dead Redemption 2.

All of which brings us back to Anemone. There is of course a notable Irish element to the film, with Daniel Day-Lewis – whose father was the Laois-born poet Cecil Day-Lewis – boasting dual English-Irish citizenship. Indeed, for the past almost 30 years, he has spent a fair amount of time living in the Wicklow village of Annamoe, where he and his wife, Rebecca Miller, have raised their sons, including Ronan.

In addition to his iconic work with PTA in The Phantom Thread and There Will Be Blood – the latter now sometimes cited as the greatest movie of the 21st century – two of the actor’s greatest performances came in Jim Sheridan films, 1989’s My Left Foot and 1993’s In The Name Of The Father. More broadly, it’s shaping up to be one hell of an autumn for the Day-Lewis clan.

As well as Daniel’s much awaited return in Ronan’s directorial debut – the latter, a talented artist, also held an exhibition in LA earlier in the year – Rebecca Miller has directed one of the finest film documentaries of recent years in Apple TV’s Mr Scorsese, in which the titular filmmaker holds forth on his extraordinary career alongside some A-list guests.

Meanwhile, speaking to Mark Kermode during a recent career Q&A at the BFI, Daniel – in response to an emailed question from Paul Thomas Anderson – noted that in prepping Anemone, he had taken particular inspiration from a couple of books, Plainsong and Eventide, by the American author Kent Haruf.

“You get to know this community in both books,” he commented. “The two characters that were most fascinating to me were a couple of elderly rancher brothers who lived together in almost complete silence. They had a tacit understanding and a complete lack of need for words.”

Elsewhere, the actor also spoke to Empire about his comeback.

“It was just a lovely gift I was given,” he said. “Most particularly it being Ronan’s first film, and having been there every day with him from the beginning, that experience was unique and beautiful.”
And as for acting again in the future, the actor left the door tantalisingly ajar.

“I’m certainly not going to shy away from it.”

• Anemone is in cinemas now. Bobby Krlic’s soundtrack is out now.