Like him or not, Ben Wheatley is not only one of the busiest filmmakers around, he’s also extremely versatile. There’s a world of difference between films such as Free Fire, Kill List, High-Rise, and Sightseers, even if they all veer to the dark comedic edge. Now Wheatley is back and doing something very different once again with Rebecca, a garish adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel, previously adapted in classically gothic fashion by Alfred Hitchcock. Big shoes to fill.
Wheatley’s version of Rebecca stars Armie Hammer and Lily James, along with co-stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Goodman-Hill, Keeley Hawes, Sam Riley, and Ann Dowd. James plays a naive, newly-married woman who finds herself haunted by the spectre of her husband’s deceased first wife while staying at his lavish estate.
The script was co-written by Jane Goldman, whose credits are vast but her experience on The Woman in Black seems especially appropriate here. She’s joined by the duo of Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, who most recently wrote biopic Seberg.
Rebecca hits Netflix on October 21st.
