Beware, contains minor spoilers.
The highly anticipated release of this film adaptation had a lot to live up to following in the footsteps of the movie’s previous director, Alfred Hitchcock, in 1940. Eighty years on, it was inevitable that people would have many different opinions on Ben Wheatley’s interpretation of the famous gothic novel by Daphne Du Maurier. Due to the Coronavirus, the movie has not been shown in many cinemas across the world, so it was put onto Netflix almost a week later as an additional way to allow people to watch it, meaning that it may have reached a wider audience who have not previously heard of the book or watched the older films/shows.
The film stars actor Armie Hammer as Maxim De Winter, a wealthy man whose wife, Rebecca, has mysteriously died, Lily James as his new love interest, and Kristen Scott Thomas as Mrs Danvers, the housekeeper at Manderly where Rebecca and her husband used to live together.
Summary
The movie follows the relationship the couple form as the new Mrs De Winter attempts to fill the shoes left behind by Rebecca, all whilst being critically compared to De Winter’s late wife by everybody she meets. The character of Mrs Danvers is the biggest culprit of this as she finds every opportunity to put her down and tell her what Rebecca would have done/said differently. The reoccurring reminder of Rebecca haunts the newcomer throughout the movie as Maxim’s new wife endeavours to unveil the truth about what really happened to her.
Not only is there the glorified memory of Rebecca occupying Manderly, but as we begin to believe that Mrs De Winter has settled into her new life at the estate, it becomes apparent that more secrets are being kept from her than was originally believed, and so she decides to take matters into her own hands and investigate them herself.
We meet many minor characters throughout the film who knew Rebecca; her cousin, a maid who served her at Manderly, and a gardener, Ben, who is the first to reveal more about Rebecca’s mysterious and unspoken death. Whilst on a dog walk with her husband, Mrs De Winter discovers Ben in a boathouse on the beach after her dog runs off, leading her to him. Initially she is startled and apprehensive about the man but he quickly catches her attention after he mentions Rebecca. He tells her how she (Rebecca) hasn’t been around in a long time and that she had gone into the sea. Mrs De Winter is stunned at the information and later confronts her husband about it, yet he says nothing and remains silent on the topic, confirming that Rebecca did indeed drown.
The rest of the film focuses on Mrs De Winter as more is gradually revealed about Rebecca, and a disturbing discovery about the complications of her death is unearthed. It finishes with a huge revelation (I won’t spoil it) which leaves the audience agog and shows how dedicated Mrs De Winter is to her new relationship and her husband.
Best Bits
The film is filled with twists and turns when you least expect it, making it an exciting yet uncomfortable watch. The viewer is filled with adrenaline throughout which adds to the experience of this modern remake. In my opinion, the biggest achievement made by this film was the way they incorporated drama into a somewhat less extreme storyline. Although the movie still contains the aspect of the original gothic literature, it has certainly not disappointed in terms of thrill-factor and suspense. Some moments of the film, especially towards the end, have the viewer gripping onto the edge of their seat in astonishment whilst others render us bewildered and eager to watch more. This is something that Ben Wheatley has done perfectly and should be praised for.
Downfalls
I have huge amounts of praise for this adaptation but, as with the majority of movies, there are things that stood out for the wrong reasons. Watching this I initially thought that perhaps there would be more to come in terms of performance, yet after the final scene I realised that the interpretation of the script by the actors had been masked by the cinematography of the movie. It seems that we have been so fixed by the beautiful appearance of the film that we have been distracted from the lack of structure to the adapted storyline Wheatley and the writers have created. Not only this, but the looming figure of Hitchcock has seemed to have rattled him as the whole project lacks the themes of Du Maurier’s novel more than it should.
Yet simplistic, this film was surprisingly impressive in terms of highly intensive and dramatic moments, yet fell short regarding the fast-paced and confusing storyline. Overall, I enjoyed watching ‘Rebecca’ and probably would watch it again if I’m ever in need of a thrill.
*** (3 stars)
By Felix Wiseman
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