Trailer for Anniversary movie teases family drama as Diane Lane confronts Phoebe Dynevor’s mysterious character

The trailer for Anniversary has generated excitement with a promise of a powerful, visceral thriller. Anniversary, directed Jan Komasa (Corpus Christi) is a family drama surrounded by societal stress.

Co-written with Lori Rosene-Gambino, Anniversary explores a family’s unraveling against the backdrop of a cryptic movement called “The Change.” With Diane Lane and Phoebe Dynevor leading a stellar cast, the trailer teases a confrontation that’s both intimate and explosive.

Jan Komasa, known for tackling societal fault lines in The Hater, brings a sharp lens to Anniversary. Filming in Dublin during the 2023 WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike, the production secured a waiver, allowing its cast to shine.

Diane Lane described the script as "a gut-punch that feels so now" , and Komasa's style combines intimacy with an unsettling critique of society. Lionsgate and Fifth Season's collaboration is set to make a refined and provocative film that has already sparked Oscar speculation.

Anniversary: Trailer breakdown

Ellen (Diane Lane) and Paul (Kyle Chandler) are having a warm spirited 25th anniversary party, and their son Josh (Dylan O'Brien) has brought Liz (Phoebe Dynevor), his intriguing new girlfriend. And then it changes suddenly - the shift from a warm gathering to Ellen, the perceptive matriarch figuring out Liz was a former student or someone related to "The Change." 

The editing in the trailer takes us through snippets of Liz and the unsettling disruptions in family life, with strange symbols springing up - she alters an American flag to place the stars together, clueing viewers in to an even wider conspiracy. The haunting score and muted pictures in the trailer build dread as they deepen the mystery regarding Liz's presence and the path Ellen and her family are about to take.  

"The Change" in the trailer provides a kind of allegory to in-the-moment divisions amongst people, while leaving the description of this entity calmingly ambiguous -- a cult, a revolution, or some other vestige of the past? The haziness of Liz's character allows viewers to unashamedly project their fears outside of the family, making her an outsider, a foundation to explore how much the outside can invade the intimate workings of our lives.

Diane Lane's Ellen deals with Liz's radicalism, and with challenges, she is fully engaged in determining how to keep dear things sacred, or if she should dust off her allegiances as things change again.

Unpacking the family drama: Ellen vs. Liz

The heart of Anniversary lies in the electrifying clash between Diane Lane’s Ellen and Phoebe Dynevor’s Liz. The trailer frames Ellen as a protective mother whose instincts flare when Liz enters her family’s orbit.

A flash of insight into Ellen's penetrating gaze when Liz talks about “The Change,” reveals a shared past that lived experience has rendered problematic, though deeply personal. Liz is preternaturally comfortable conversing, even engagingly cryptic, with an ideology that seems to destabilize the cohesive nature of the family. 

This hunch is less generational than cultural; however, Ellen is trying to hold onto the integrity of her family against Liz's potential for annihilating family and relationships. The trailer editing moves from warm family moments to confrontational impasses with ominous implications that love can endure betrayal.

The cast who brings drama into Anniversary: 

Diane Lane gives a stunning performance as Ellen, her trailer moments displaying emotional ferocity with mulish resolve. Phoebe Dynevor's Liz is a shapeshifter - charming, but sometimes teetering on the verge of danger, unsuspected.

Dylan O’Brien's Josh, perpetually weighing love versus righteousness, adds vulnerability, while Kyle Chandler’s Paul grounds the family chaos. The ensemble cast - Zoey Deutch, Mckenna Grace, Madeline Brewer, and Daryl McCormack - comprise the ensemble cast, teetering at their own moment’s secret in the few but present moments in the trailer. Komasa's direction encapsulates these performances into a tense narrative.

Where to watch Anniversary:

Anniversary will be released in the United States by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions in the theatres on October 29, 2025. Because the film has received an R rating for language, violence, drug use, and sexual references, this 111-minute runtime will be an intense experience.