Daniel Day-Lewis has come out of retirement for his first film in eight years. In this psychological drama, directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, he plays Ray Stoker, a troubled ex-army recluse whose estranged brother, Jem (Sean Bean), also formerly in the army, visits him to convince him to come home and reunite with his family.
This powerful, but, at times, sluggish drama, is not quite as good as the sum of its parts. Day-Lewis, is, unsurprisingly phenomenal, part rage fuelled, part humourous, especially in two outstanding monologues. His son shows an eye for shot composition, with Ben Fordesman’s cinematography quite beautiful at times and Bobby Krlic’s bold score one of the best of the year. Despite being on screen a lot, it feels like Bean did not have much to do, with the great Samantha Morton making more of an impression as Nessa, Jem’s wife and the mother of Ray’s son.
Whilst the story touches on PTSD from the brothers service in Ireland, childhood abuse from Catholic priests and parental responsibilities, none of them are tackled with sufficient depth, despite the best efforts of Morton and Day-Lewis.
Rating: 7 out of 10