'Rebecca' trades haunts for style | movie review

Netflix’s Rebecca, which follows in the footsteps of Hitchcock’s 1940 classic, follows a young woman who walks in the shadow of her new husband’s late wife

Rebecca is gloriously filmed and impeccably designed, but beneath all of the polish of its grand mansion setting is an empty house filled with nothing but empty rooms and empty thrills.

English author Dame Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca, which was later adapted by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, is a ghost story. However, in Netflix’s remake, helmed by British master of folk horror Ben Wheatley, the ghosts that haunt Manderley, the sprawling mansion where the movie takes place, are largely missing.

I’ll be honest, a travesty has taken place. I have never seen Hitchcock’s 1940 film. I know, I know! But it isn’t available anywhere to watch really. However, that gives the opportunity to review this film through the lens of a first-time viewer, which let’s be honestly is the experience of most of the viewers who will be catching the film on Netflix.

The setup is quite simple actually, enigmatic wealthy businessman Maxim de Winter (a perfectly cast Armie Hammer) is vacationing in Monte Carlo where he meets the unnamed companion of Mrs. Van Hopper (Ann Dowd). The companion, a naïve 20-something played by Lily James, is of course taken with de Winter and the interest is mutual. Through two weeks of courtship, the pair decide to marry and have the young woman move to his mansion in Cornwall, the beautiful estate Manderley.

However, throughout their courtship, it is apparent that his late wife Rebecca weighs heavily on his mind. The same can be said when the newlywed Mrs. de Winter arrives at the estate where everyone, and especially housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas), still reminisce about the time when Rebecca was the lady of the house.

At its core, the mystery and story of Rebecca, where the new Mrs. de Winter is haunted by the expectations and possibly the actual ghost of Rebecca, is intriguing. The character study of an obsessed young woman eager to please her husband by remaking herself in the image of his seemingly perfect first wife is incredible to unpack. However, director Ben Wheatley seems to be missing something—the ghosts.

James’ portrayal of an impressionable, young woman on the edge of madness as the suffocating presence of her new husband’s late wife takes control is interesting. But without the underlying feeling of dread—which peeks its head out occasionally, but is often quickly replaced with melodrama—it feels more conventional than it should be.

That’s also due to the lack of underlying themes.

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Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

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Karl Delossantos

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Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.