Anamorphic footage has a softer, more cinematographic and artsy feel. The bokeh and lights are cubic or oval. Anamorphic flares are stretched horizontally and will give your footage that aesthetic look. With the anamorphic lens, you capture a wider frame, so keep in mind that it can make a set more expensive.

I believe the difference between the two is, the anamorphic lens stretches the image horizontally allowing for more data to be captured. A wide angle lens stretches both the image horizontally and vertically.

Anamorphic lenses are specialty tools which affect how images get projected onto the camera sensor. They were primarily created so that a wider range of aspect ratios could fit within a standard film frame, but since then, cinematographers have become accustomed to their unique look.

Anamorphic allows you to get more image data than your sensor could normally hold. The technology itself was invented partially as a marketing gimmick to get audiences back into theatres. It offered widescreen vistas of apparently higher resolution than traditional film without the need for larger film formats.

Can someone explain what the anamorphic lens does better compared to the wide angle except for the lens flare being straight instead of circualar?