Movie · 2025 · Thriller, Drama · 1h 51m · R · English
Curator score: 2.1/10 (42K ratings)
What holds them together will tear them apart.
Overview
When Ellen and Paul’s son Josh introduces his new girlfriend at their 25th anniversary party, no one suspects that it is the beginning of the end for this happy family. The new girlfriend is Liz, Ellen’s former student, who left the university, some years before, after Ellen called her out in class for her radical ideology.
A tense, idea-driven domestic thriller that uses a family celebration to stage a broader argument about ideology, loyalty, and how private relationships can be weaponized by politics. It sounds sharp in premise and often entertaining in its escalating discomfort, but the execution appears uneven and sometimes too blunt or implausible to fully land.
Best for
Viewers who like political allegory wrapped in family drama
Fans of chilly, conversation-heavy thrillers
People interested in generational conflict and culture-war satire
Audiences who enjoy watching polite social settings curdle into menace
Skip if
You want subtle, realistic political writing
You prefer thrillers with clean plotting and airtight plausibility
You dislike didactic or symbol-heavy storytelling
You are looking for a warm, character-first family drama
Overview
Anniversary takes a very contemporary anxiety and drops it into the most fragile setting possible: a family milestone dinner. That setup gives the film immediate pressure, and the best stretches seem to come from watching manners, old resentments, and political loyalties collide in real time.
Worth noting
The appeal here is less mystery than escalation. The movie looks designed to make every conversation feel like a trap, with the new girlfriend becoming a catalyst for buried tensions inside the household and, by extension, inside the country around them. When it works, it should be uncomfortably funny and genuinely ominous.
Bottom line
The downside is that this kind of allegorical thriller lives or dies on precision, and the response suggests the film sometimes reaches for provocation instead of depth. Even so, the premise, cast, and tonal setup make it worth a look for viewers who enjoy socially charged suspense with a satirical edge.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Miranda Hernandez (4★) · 3108 likes
Why did they keep inviting them over
CptQuack (3.5★) · 2202 likes
mamas boy so desperate for attention he starts a fascist autocracy
Bobby🏳️🌈 Grant🦄 (3.5★) · 1917 likes
The unrealistic part is all of America reading a book.
Jesse Hassenger (3★) · 1465 likes
Probably a bad sign for everything that the aspect of this that struck me as most immediately implausible is that like millions and millions of people would read a single book.
Logan Burd (2★) · 1455 likes
Politically vague enough to avoid having any real impact
A satirical look at social ritual and elite absurdity, ideal for viewers who like their critique surreal and biting.
Topics
political thriller, domestic drama, satire, family tension, culture war, psychological suspense, social commentary, ensemble cast, modern America, slow-burn