This Thanksgiving, some Americans will find themselves bleeding as they bite hard on their tongues when gathered around the dinner table. The authoritarian rise in America, with eroding freedoms and increasingly fascistic politicians, will make every conversation awkward. We can’t talk about work because odds are high you’ve been laid off due to a shitty economy and the ongoing government shutdown. We can’t talk about school because we’d rather not remember when ICE came to ambush parents or the latest school shooter struck. We can’t even talk about the weather, given the horrific climate change and the Trump administration’s unwillingness to address any of it. But with enough glasses of wine, the frustration will spill out.

Anniversary is a dystopian story of that microcosm of a family unit, framing the progression of an authoritarian America around an annual get-together. The passionate political science Professor Ellen (Diane Lane) is having difficulty celebrating her marriage to the non-confrontational chef Paul (Kyle Chandler) when the political winds are shifting hard. Putting a sour note on the occasion is the entrance of Liz (Phoebe Dynevor), a former student of Ellen who is now dating her failing son, Josh (Dylan O’Brien). It’s not just that Liz is right-wing, but has soared into conservative fame with a new movement composed from her bulky manifesto, The Change. Tensions are guaranteed to flare when the family gathers, especially with the additions of Ellen’s daughters, the science-centered Birdie (McKenna Grace) and the left-leaning lawyer Cynthia (Zoey Deutch).

Told over the course of years, the film presents increasingly furious and depressing anniversaries as Liz’s right-wing views fester further into a fascist state. There’s uncertainty and bitterness within everyone as freedoms crumble, where Ellen feels forced to comply with the state she despises, and Liz watches helplessly as her husband becomes a toxic misogynist too dangerous to stop. There’s a tragedy more present in Paul as he slowly starts to wake up to the disgusting politics that have split their family and the regret of not fighting sooner. Even for a family as financially stable as this one, the threat of nationalism can’t be kept off the table when it’s so presently in the foreground.

It might seem strange that a film so overtly targeting America’s political movements, ala Project 2025, was helmed by Polish director Jan Komasa, but he does well to focus more on the personal perspective of a rising dystopia. The picture’s framing has the feeling of being the uncomfortable guest invited every year to watch as the family squabbles, realizing this won’t be an annual debate that will be resolved with coffee and dessert by the party’s end. The pervading populism erodes everything, where the most well-meaning of people will falter, and the most thick-tongued of right-wing bootlickers will be stomped. Despite some uneven performances and a rather brisk detachment for how quickly the tension cuts to highlights, Komasa puts a perfectly poignant touch on the thesis that the championing and passivity of mounting nationalism is a road to destruction for all that does not spare “the good ones.”

Anniversary may narrow its lens for highlighting American authoritarianism, but it still presents enough provocation and poignancy to feel alive in the moment. While not always effective for its all-over-the-place method of revealing this story, there are a few nuances along the way that make it stick out from the wealth of astute American fascist satires we’re bound to get in the years to follow. There’s a sobering catharsis that even the most well-to-do Americans who think they can keep their heads down will have to poke their heads out as the cover melts. It’s damaging to you, your family, and nobody will care for your excuses of “traditional values” when there are guns pointed at your head.

Not available on any streaming platforms.

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