Rebecca is Netflix’s upcoming romance, drama, and psychological thriller feature from director Ben Wheatley (Free Fire, High-Rise) that’s based on Daphne Du Maurier’s classic 1938 gothic novel of the same name. Written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse (Race), with the screenplay by Jane Goldman (Kingsman: The Secret Service), it stars Armie Hammer (Call Me by Your Name), Lily James (Cinderella), and Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient).
The novel was previously adapted for the big screen in 1940 by none other than the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, and starred Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson. In 1941 it won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Cinematography (out of its eleven nominations) and is widely regarded as one of the classics of cinema, so no pressure for all those involved in this new adaption.
The official plot synopsis is as follows:
After a whirlwind romance 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 a windswept English coast. Naive and inexperienced, she begins to settle into the trappings of her new life, but finds herself battling the shadow of Maxim’s first wife, the elegant and urbane Rebecca, whose haunting legacy is kept alive by Manderley’s sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas).
Let’s take a look:
I think I’ve found my first Netflix title to look forward to in October because I really like the look of this. Kristin Scott Thomas’ cold, disdainful performance as Mrs. Danvers really sold me on what’s a gorgeous period piece thriller that looks well directed, acted, and plotted.
What do you think?
Rebecca will premiere on Netflix on 21 October. It also stars Keeley Hawes, Sam Riley, Ann Dowd, Mark Lewis Jones, Bill Paterson, and Tom Goodman-Hill.
Last Updated: September 10, 2020
