Netflix recently released their own adaptation of the 1938 novel by Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca, that was first adapted into a feature film in 1940. This 1940 version was directed by Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window, 1954) and received the Oscar for Best Picture.
So this film is not obscure or forgotten in the world of cinema history. The Rebecca novel has also been adapted into two miniseries (from 1979 and 1997) and two TV movies (from 1947 and 1969).
This 2020 version, directed by Ben Wheatley (Kill List, 2011), follows the life of a timid young woman whose whirlwind marriage to a widowed aristocrat takes her to live at his large estate on the English countryside. But ghosts can haunt in more ways than mere apparitions as the awkward new bride struggles to live in the shadow of her new husband's first wife who died tragically the year before. A cavernous mansion full of secrets and whispers lead this film's heroine to shocking discoveries surrounding the departed wife's death.
Rebecca is not an adrenaline-filled horror film but an emotionally sensitive mystery. It makes an earnest and focused effort creating its own adaptation and not just a colorized copy of the 1940 original. The layered editing, combining disparate scenes and dialogue together, helped accelerate the plot forward and gave the film a modern vibe even though it's set in the 1930s. But although Rebecca had great elements and a rich atmosphere, much of the acting felt too wooden or tempered, as if none of the principal actors were having much fun or felt free enough to show more emotion. Maybe my criticism of the acting is slightly unfair given the 1940 film features Oscar-worthy performances from acting legends Laurence Olivier (Wuthering Heights, 1939) and Joan Fontaine (Suspicion, 1941) whose work has stood the test of time. That's the risk when producing a remake, especially a remake of an already brilliant film. Filmmakers risk an inevitable comparison.
In the constant wave of remakes and reboots this year alone (including The Boys in the Band, Mulan, The Invisible Man, Death on the Nile, and The Witches), Rebecca is a nice (but not quite great) entry that shows maturity and poise. It's not a ridiculous disaster, but it's not an amazing triumph either.
