You have, no doubt, seen movies like Ronan Day-Lewis’ “Anemone” before. It's a dark dysfunctional-family saga, in which a pair of estranged brothers, Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis, Ronan’s real-life father) and Jem (Sean Bean), reunite in Ray’s remote cabin in the woods of northern England, with Jem determined to help heal long-held wounds for the benefit of the next generation. Painful conversations unfold, dark secrets emerge, whiskey is consumed, storms rattle the windows, and eventually we arrive at … well, an ending, with maybe the tiniest dram of hope.

What gives “Anemone” the small amount of interest it holds is the presence of Daniel Day-Lewis, who famously “retired” from acting seven years ago (after a deliciously silky performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread”), but returns here, presumably at his son’s behest. The two Day-Lewises co-wrote the script, such as it is; much of “Anemone” takes place in silence. Ray, we learn, has long been alone, and he doesn’t take kindly to Jem’s arrival. Day-Lewis, with close-cropped silver hair and an expression of watchful wariness, is playing a man brimful of pain, with years of practice in keeping it buried. As an actor, he’s never less than fascinating — if you’ve ever wondered if Day-Lewis could make toothbrushing mesmerizing, it’s proved here — and he delivers a couple of meaty monologues with exactly the intensity and passion you’d expect, with a final enigmatic close-up that’s practically a novel.

The question, though, is whether the performance is worth the rather grim two hours’ sit that is “Anemone.” Ronan Day-Lewis, who is 27, is making his feature debut here, and he’s got some remarkable materials to work with: a cast that also includes the great Samantha Morton, and some beautiful cinematography by Ben Fordesman, featuring ethereal blue-orange twilight and mossy forest mazes of damp green. It’s heady stuff for a young filmmaker, and sometimes it works: A long, silent sequence when Jem first arrives at Ray’s hermitage and is wordlessly offered a cup of tea is masterfully handled. But the director’s habit of abruptly cutting to black before a scene seems fully resolved, or too often substituting lovely nature shots for coherent narrative, makes the film an unsatisfying experience, with an ending that doesn’t seem earned. It’s a promising but uneven debut, not quite worthy of its star.

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'ANEMONE'

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language throughout)

Running time: 2:01

How to watch: Now in theaters

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