Rebecca

The book by Daphne Du Maurier is amazing and a favourite, a masterpiece of suspenseful atmosphere and psychological depth. There are three versions of 'Rebecca' prior to this latest one from 2020, the best known one justifiably being the Alfred Hitchcock directed film. While the 70s adaptation with Jeremy Brett is the best version as an adaptation, Hitchcock's is my personal favourite. Even with inevitable changes to suit the code, it is superbly made, acted (Judith Anderson is unforgettable) and directed, true in spirit to the book's atmosphere.

Unfortunately, this version is inferior in nearly all those aspects. It does have its good things, but of all the four versions of 'Rebecca' it is easily the worst for me. Being the only one to not work, the other three are excellent and more. Visually and stylistically, this 'Rebecca' is mostly very successful. When it comes to the substance however, this film adaptation and standalone wise is a failure. Actually don't think one needs to have seen any of the previous versions or read the book to see how badly flawed the film is, a friend of mine also saw it with no prior knowledge of the source material or previous adaptations and disliked it too, highlighting the lack of atmosphere, shallow characterisation, erratic pacing, messy final act and Armie Hammer as particular flaws.

'Rebecca' (2020) has good things. It does look gorgeous, though in my mind the film would have benefitted from a darker look either in a Gothic or noir-ish sense. The film is exquisitely photographed and the settings have beauty and vivid atmosphere, especially in Monte Carlo. Apart from the yellow suit, the costumes are nice and Manderlay is a beautiful and atmospheric house if not quite the character of its own kind that the previous three adaptations achieved. Clint Mansell's score has parts where it is ominous and stirs the emotions.

Didn't care for the performances on the whole, but Kristin Scott Thomas is very good indeed as Mrs Danvers and there is a formidable quality that makes her very memorable. Sam Reilly's Favell is deceptively friendly but suitably manipulative, though could have afforded to have been more caddish.

However, Lily James and Hammer didn't do it for me in their roles. Actually like James as an actress, ever since her charming 'Cinderella', but she lacks the plain mousiness that is needed for the 2nd Mrs De Winter and comes over as too neurotic in her more haunted moments. Hammer is also too young (especially considering that there is meant to be a big age difference, without it the story dynamic doesn't work) and too handsome, personality wise he is like a bland uncharismatic cipher as well as jerk-ish even when Maxim's character writing darkens. The lack of chemistry between the two really hurts the film and too lukewarm romantic comedy-like instead of the conflicted one it ought to be. The characters are stripped of their complexity and become one-dimensional, the most interesting is Mrs Danvers easily but that is down to Thomas mainly.

Furthermore, the script could have flowed more and is too mundane with no spark. Some of it was awkward too. The direction is too constrained and tends to be pedestrian in the first half and then out of control and too reliant on a horror vibe in the second. The story is completely lacking in suspense and the omnipresent spookiness just isn't there, with the psychology of the characters being too muted. Likewise with the more mysterious elements in the story. The pacing is a mess too, it takes too long to get going and is too deliberate in the first half and then the final act especially becomes very rushed and jumpy. This part of the film is also far too melodramatic, the tone shift is not just completely uneasy and jarring but the second half feels like a different film altogether and in a schlocky horror way, not in a suspensefully psychological way. The ending is very tacked on and did reek of studio interference or of the writers not being sure how to end the film.

In summary, liked the style but the substance underwhelms. Very disappointing. 4/10.

How can something, so beautiful, so twisted and so disturbing, be so boring?

I don't understand why you would attempt to remake a film who's shoes are just too big to fill.

First off the film looks great especially the scenes in France and the story is good but that is the source materials fault not anyone involved with this film.

I thought it was pretty bland apart from the points above. The characters were just so blah. I literally cared more about Clarice the maid than the lead characters. She seemed nice which is at least an adjective, I can't really think of any adjectives to describe Mr and Mrs de Winters. So that tells you something.

I was really looking forward to the costumes too but for the most part I was let down. They stuck Mrs de Winter in like dumpy hats and cardigans that you could go and pick up from H & M. I don't understand this choice. In the Hitchcock film they give her interesting dresses and stylish tops. I was so confused.

I also don't believe the reviews that say this captures old Hollywood. I didn't feel it, it 100% felt like a 2020 film. If you want a old Hollywood movie just go and watch one.

I would honestly skip it, it was pretty confused. The first chunk of the movie felt like full romance but then it shifts into like a boring drama then it's all like Frankensteined together with horror tropes like "jump scares". It had no point of view.

There should be a rule, don't remake a great classic movie if you have nothing new or interesting to add to it. This looked like the Hallmark version of Hitchcock's classic film noir. Lilly James is overacting the shy, inexperienced character, she walks like Forrest Gump in some scenes, for example where she's following Rebecca's ghost at the party. She also pouts all the time. Armie Hammer has the intensity of a carrot, he's too vanilla for the role. His suits are horrible, badly tailored, the mustard suit in the beginning is an eye sore. Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs Danvers is the only saving grace of this movie. And finally, the cinematography is bad. It's like somebody wanted to make a rom com and changed their mind in the last minute. Those happy, ultra saturated colors don't fit the mood of a dark gothic romance novel in the least.

It just kept me going back and forth, and I thought I'd land in a good place in the end, but no.

The first half was good, but the second half is when everything started to fall apart for me.

Without revealing too much, in the second half, especially towards the end (like the last half hour), the dialogue turned awkward & inconsistent. The events including significant revelations were RUSHED so much that there was no build up to them nor enough time to let them sink in before moving on to the next scene. The reactions to some news or events within the plot were dull & lacked sincerity and passion.

The editing for those scenes didn't help either. It just kept jumping too fast to the next scene or cut to a different frame in a different location in the middle of a revealing conversation. That's when they lost me. The emotional connection I wanted to feel for the characters kept being interrupted.

Though I still kept an open mind and was hoping I'll be pleasantly surprised that I'll love this movie by the end of it, but unfortunately, it just kept going the same kind of direction till the movie was over.

I've been looking forward to this, and even with my expectations being reasonable and not too high, I still didn't get what I wanted.

And just to be clear, I'm not comparing this to Hitchcock's version. In fact, I've never even seen it. So this is solely based on the execution of the story in this specific movie. It simply didn't do it for me.