REBECCA | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Ben Wheatley (12A, 124 mins)
The director of pitch-dark cult dramas Kill List, Sightseers and High Rise, as well as the hallucinogenic A Field In England and shootout-in-a-warehouse thriller Free Fire, takes an apparent sideways step into the world of remakes. Daphne Du Maurier’s novel Rebecca is an unlikely choice for this fringe director, who with his regular writing partner Amy Jump has added chill and uncomfortable viscera to his previous films.
Famously made to Oscar-winning acclaim by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940 with stars Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, this recasts the central lovers in the form of matinee idol Armie Hammer and Lily James. He is Maxim De Winter struggling in the aftermath of the death of his wife; she is trailing around Europe, a dogsbody for Ann Dowd’s excellent society snob who meets Maxim whilst on the French Riviera. They meet and fall in love in charming style, the chemistry between Hammer and James working wonderfully. James becomes the second Mrs De Winter and they return to his stately pile, Manderley. There, the unconnected, lower-class James find herself at the receiving end of disdain from the servants, particularly Kristin Scott Thomas’ arch Mrs Danvers.
As the story progresses, it appears the first Mrs De Winter’s death might have not been an accident at sea but something far closer to home. Hammer manages to keep an ambiguity over De Winter’s intentions whilst James navigates her shift from fresh-faced ingenue with a passion for life into put-upon, hallucinating new wife with aplomb. There are some tonal shifts and scenes with Mrs Danvers that leap about uncomfortably compared to the Downton Abbey vibes of a lot of the storytelling. Director Wheatley still keeps a handful of his quirky flourishes: anachronistic folk song used to underscore moments, a disorientating ball as James’ sanity appears to slip, culminating in a scream that turns into a firework, while cross-cut editing adds to a disjointed unease at times.
Other elements feel unexplored, the depth of Danvers’ love for the first Mrs De Winter is merely hinted at, there’s a rather over-the-top Terry Thomas vibe to Tom Riley’s roguish interloper as Mrs De Winter’s cousin and the weight of guilt eventually sits fairly lightly on the architects of the first Mrs De Winter’s death. It’s a faithful retelling of the story: handsomely shot and well performed, with admirable flourishes but ultimately a little underwhelming, and Wheatley showing restraint when it might have been better for the film to have had more of his usual off-kilter vision.
Streaming on Netflix now
words KEIRON SELF