The recent Netflix remake of the 1940 Best Picture winner (directed by some clown named Alfred Hitchcock). Now starring Lily James & Armie Hammer (in the roles established by Joan Fontaine & Laurence Olivier) we find James working as a valet for a rich dowager (played by Ann Dowd looking unrecognizable), an American on vacation in Europe who's staying at a swank hotel. Unrehearsed in the ways of the world, James (working for a paltry 90 pounds a year) is pushed around & shoved to do her job waiting hand & foot on Dowd's behalf generally not enjoying the sumptuous surroundings about her but things change when the mysterious & rich, Maxim DeWinter, Hammer, shows up at the resort setting tongues a-wagging. Dowd, hoping to get into his good graces & probably dish some gossip, hopes to be seated w/Hammer when he goes to dine sending James as her emissary but in meet cute fashion Hammer does end up finding her to be the bee's knees & they start to date (Dowd falls sick & thankfully for James bedridden) which when their time at the hotel comes to an end the picture postcard sheen of their romance bears fruit when they marry. They then head to back to Hammer's estate, Manderlay, where the staff meets the new Mrs. DeWinter & the house matron, Mrs. Danvers, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, still exalts the name & memory of the former mistress (the Rebecca of the title who passed away when she drowned) keeping James on edge throughout her stay which forces her, whether she likes it or not, to assume the mantle she's married into & have some say over the household. Now the big elephant in the room can be addressed, was the original Rebecca so antiquated & past its prime it needed a remake? No way full stop. Does this film hurt the memory of the original? No, again. While hitting a lot of the same story beats as its predecessor, it also adds unnecessary subplots (maybe from Daphne Du Maurier's novel?) which end up adding nothing w/the awesome & iconic finale of Manderlay & Mrs. Danvers going up in flames changed to something a bit muted & less bombastic. The actors are fine but in no way do they outdo their betters but for those out there who deign to even glimpse a film prior to a certain date in their heads, this version may be the one they'll adore, for me I liked it, that's it.
