Rebecca Movie Review: Lily James, Armie Hammer’s Netflix Film Doesn’t Go Beyond Being a Decent Remake of the Alfred Hitchcock Classic

Rebecca Movie Review: The classic Rebecca gets another update through Netflix. Rebecca is based on a famous mystery novel by by Daphne du Maurier. It was first masterfully adapted by the great late Sir Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. The 1940 version still considered the best adaptation, Rebecca goes on to see other adaptations too, which also includes in Hindi and Malayalam. Now horror filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Kill List) gets his hands on the story and I was quite eager how he would take this story in a different direction. Rebecca Trailer: Armie Hammer and Lily James' Gothic Romance Looks Intriguing (Watch Video).

After watching the new Rebecca, the direction, I realise, hardly matters than in how Wheatley wanted to envision the same story. If you have watched his past films, you would know of the filmmaker's penchant for surreal and horrific imagery. With Rebecca, he gets the opportunity to display the story with some haunting visuals, even though the movie hardly offers any ghostly presence.

Even the idea of Rebecca, the unseen dead wife of the aristocratic Maxim de Winters (Armie Hammer), roaming around the hallways of his magnificent but gloomy castle, Manderley, isn't something that fascinating for Wheatley. It is how the memories attached to his dead spouse affect his new bride (Lily James) and the psychological toll that it takes on her and her marriage, is what the film focuses on.

Watch the Trailer of Rebecca:

The bride, who I don't recall exactly having a maiden name, gets anointed as Mrs de Winter after marriage, but for the staff of her castle, especially the cold Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas), she cannot replace Rebecca. It also doesn't help that Mrs de Winter didn't belong to an aristocratic family before marriage, so she also has to tackle this social disparity. What's more, her formerly charming husband begins to behave oddly after returning to Manderley. He begins to get angry if she touches anything related to Rebecca, and she thinks he is still in love with his first wife. Armie Hammer Birthday Special: From The Social Network to Final Portrait, Brilliant Movies of the American Actor that You Shouldn't Miss.

Putting focus on how a marriage crumbles over people's fixation with the past, instead of the ghostly allusions, does give this new adaptation of Rebecca a different shade. The usual of some eye-binding gothic imagery and visuals (cinematography by Laurie Rose) give the film an appealing look. From flock of birds forming strange patterns in the sky to a masquerade ball taking a horror spin, Wheatley's horror sensibilities do rise on occasions.

Alas, it can hardly compete with how Hitchcock effectively played with shadows to create a sense of foreboding in the 1940 version. Despite Wheatley's best efforts, his Rebecca couldn't make itself to be nothing more than a decent remake of this masterpiece and by the end of it, it simply makes you wonder the point of remaking an already fantastic film. Especially after the film re-enters the territory of familiarity in the third act.

The cast does a good job here, with Lily James anchoring the film as its narrator with the required frailty and determination. Hammer's good looks is put to good use here; he makes for a really impressive dashing but aloof Maxim de Winter. Kristin Scott Thomas is effectively chilling as the housekeeper with a strange attachment to her dead mistress.

Yay!

- Visually Striking

Nay!

- Doesn't Make Itself Memorable

Final Thoughts

The new Rebecca has surreal imagery and good performances, but can't raise itself from being just another remake. Rebecca is streaming on Netflix.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2020 05:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).