What To Watch This Week: Rebecca
After a whirlwind relationship in Monte Carlo with handsome widower Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), a newly married young woman (Lily James) arrives at Manderley, her new husband’s imposing family estate on the wild Cornish coast. Naive and unworldly, the unnamed protagonist begins to settle into her new life but finds herself in the shadow of Maxim’s first wife, the elegant Rebecca, whose legacy is kept alive by Manderley’s sinister housekeeper Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas). Chic and chilling, this new adaptation is both romantic and mysterious, offering a distinctively modern take on du Maurier’s tale of secrets, jealousy and inescapable pasts.
What begins as a sweeping romance on the sun-soaked Continent soon moves into darker psychological territory after the couple arrives at Manderley, where the second Mrs de Winter discovers that the estate has been turned into something of a mausoleum dedicated to Maxim’s first wife. Maxim may have moved his bedroom from the vast west wing to a modest, dark room on the other side of the house, but Rebecca’s famously long, dark hair remains caught between her hairbrush’s bristles and her faithful dog won’t stop pawing at the door of the former master bedroom, which the equally loyal Mrs Danvers has transformed into a shrine to her true mistress. Worst of all, Maxim himself has changed from a charismatic leading man to a brisk, haunted master who begins sleepwalking towards his former bedroom and appears to hate being anywhere near his new wife.
As the central couple, both James and Hammer work well together, convincing the audience of their chemistry and compatibility from the off. Their early days in the South of France are truly idyllic, making the strain between them once they arrive at Manderley all the more peculiar. Adding to the tension is the steely-eyed Mrs Danvers, who stalks the estate in a slick dark navy suit and her trademark red lipstick. As this famously mysterious character, Scott Thomas brings her signature poise to create a hateful yet intriguing character, whose motives continue to fascinate right until the film’s close.
NETFLIX
NETFLIX
The supporting cast adds further appeal, and includes Emmy Award-winning actress Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) as Mrs Van Hopper, the American aristocrat James’s character is paid to accompany on holiday in Monte Carlo at the start of the film; Bodyguard and Line of Duty actress Keeley Hawes as Maxim’s sympathetic sister; Sam Riley (Maleficent) as Jack Favell, Rebecca’s sleazy, scheming cousin; Tom Goodman-Hill (The Imitation Game) as Frank Crawley, the manager of Manderley’s business affairs; Mark Lewis Jones (The Crown) as Inspector Welch; and Bill Paterson (Fleabag) as Dr Baker, Rebecca’s doctor. All are sharply dressed, adding timeless appeal to the film’s backdrop.
Directed by Ben Wheatley (High Rise, Free Fire), this reboot of Rebecca is a gorgeously shot psychological thriller. It takes guts to remake a Hitchcock classic – his 1940 version won Best Picture at that year’s Oscars – but 80 years on, this new adaptation provides audiences with an ending that’s closer to the source material. As Wheatley himself says: “What I really loved was that du Maurier had a scheme, which was to smuggle in something quite sinister inside the wrapping of something that looks like a romantic story. You’re lulled into that false sense of security before it’s pulled away from you.” Highly enjoyable and full of tension, we’d say he’s achieved this feat himself.
Rebecca is available to watch on Netflix now
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