Rebuilding: Overcoming Loss and Regaining Hope (Early Review)

Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, there is perhaps no more topical film than Max Walker-Silverman’s Rebuilding. As wildfires and natural disasters have become a more common occurrence, the respective struggles of the countless affected are a subject that is often overlooked once the masses move on to the next headline. Aptly-titled, rebuilding is exactly what these victims must now do, but that process isn’t necessarily an easy one and these journeys are not necessarily the same either. Meanwhile, rebuilding is more than just the outward, as that journey is as much of an introspective one. Nothing fancy, the film ultimately thrives in its simplicity, sending audiences on one of those journeys about a man having to rebuild himself, and his life, following a wildfire that cost him his livelihood and his identity. Once a rancher who mostly kept to himself, Dusty (O’Connor) had to reassess what he thought he knew about life and himself after losing his family farm as a result of a wildfire. Lost, he found refuge in his ex-wife Ruby (Fahy) and his daughter Callie Rose (LaTorre) for whom he reconnected with. Relegated to a trailer in a FEMA camp, he would go on and find a new community with them and the other people who lost their homes.

Running at only 96-minutes, the film doesn’t bother with bells and whistles and instead, delivers a grounded and contemplative tale that hits all the right notes. However, a major point of contention for a lot of audiences will surely be how it won’t hit those notes fast enough. In the end, the film’s grounded tone and lack of pomp and circumstance may not seem as inviting on paper but, to its credit, it is carried by the many charms of Josh O’Connor. As the lead, Dusty maybe he takes his cowboy persona too much to heart in perpetrating a strong silent type kind of character. Not giving too much away in terms of emotion, at least at first, it was all he knew, in spite of the trauma he now experienced. Dusty’s life as a rancher, as he knew it, what defined him and where he found his purpose, was no more, which left him feeling lost. Lifelong friends since childhood, he and Ruby, along with her mother Bess (Amy Madigan), were who he turned to as some of the only pieces from his past that were still intact. The sheer purity of that family dynamic was another of the film’s highlights, proving a compelling grounding presence.

On the other hand, Dusty becoming a part of the FEMA trailer camp community was another strong development. Spending more time with his daughter, Callie Rose absolutely idolized him and his cowboy ways. Almost a mirror image of one another, changing the ways and finding a mutual comfortable middle ground made for a strong arc. That relationship, and his other relationships over the course of the film, were essentially a means to develop Dusty on his journey of rediscovery and finding a new direction moving forward. Where Rebuilding shines is in those little moments along the way, characters being in the moment and coming together on a human level over their lives and shared loss. Despite being a means to an end, one can’t help but be pulled into those moments alongside its strong characters. Though they’re not much individually, they work best as a unit where Walker-Silverman, in his second feature film, knowns how to craft a narrative and harness emotion in a powerful way.

It goes without saying that the best part of Rebuilding is O’Connor’s aforementioned charming performance as Dusty. The film lives or dies based on the willingness of audiences to go on a journey with him. Earning a level of trust through consistently putting in quality work over the years, his performance here stacks right up there with some of his best. That being said, the nature of the character may be difficult to fully grasp but he is still an absolute delight to watch, carrying multitudes of pain while keeping a strong face on the outside. Lost and trying to carve a path forward, though the vulnerability he shows is subtle, it is there. LaTorre is a scene-stealer as Callie Rose. Holding her own against O’Connor, her maturity paired with her childlike sense of hope, made her a worthy foil. Fahy’s chemistry with O’Connor seemed like wasted potential given the story’s frontloaded structure. Finally, Madigan’s Bess, a far cry from this year’s Weapons, brings the grandma-like warmth in a needed, but limited, role.

Rebuilding will almost certainly not be everyone’s speed but this grounded drama thrives in its simplicity and delivers emotion in spades, led by a great Josh O’Connor.

still courtesy of Bleecker Street

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.