Ben Wheatley (High Rise, Free Fire) moves to Netflix with his re-imagining of Daphne Du Maurier’s 1938 classic, not to mention Alfred Hitchcock’s excellent 1940 adaptation. Leading the cast is Lily James, supported by some huge talent in Armie Hammer, Keeley Hawes, Kristen Scott Thomas, and more. Wheatley and his cast may also benefit from the Academy’s decision to allow streaming-only content into this year’s Oscars.
If you think this might be a remake of the Hitchock classic, think again, Wheatley has been adamant that he is not adapting Hitchcock and, instead, going back to the original novel for a fresher take. “I wanted to make something that had more love in it,” Wheatley recently said. “It’s part of trying to investigate other parts of being human. Rebecca has dark elements, and it has a psychological, haunting story within it, but it’s also about these two people in love. That was the main thing.”
The trailer does hint at a few similar story beats from the Hitchcock, albeit with way more sex and style. The gist of the story goes that a romance is sparked in Monte Carlo between widower Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), and a young woman chaperone only known as Mrs. De Winter (Lily James). They get married on a hitch, he brings her to his infamous Manderley mansion on a windswept English coast. The problem is that the naive and lower-class Mrs. De Winter can’t help but feel threatened by the shadow of Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca. It doesn’t help that sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas) loved Rebecca and has developed a hate for the new wife.
“Rebecca” is scheduled to be released on Netflix and select theaters on October 21.