Netflix has been knocking it out of the park with their original films lately, with__ The Irishman and Marriage Story picking up nominations everywhere last award season. But the streaming service is not stopping there. And the much-anticipated Rebecca_,_ a big budget adaptation of the novel, has just dropped on the website.
Safe to say, there's been mixed reviews of the romantic thriller. Vulture called it 'a hollow turgid retread' meanwhile Vanity Fair called it 'lifeless'. However, the Guardian were more kind, calling it 'a perfectly watchable romp'.
Here's everything you need to know.
What is it about?
When a young woman, working as a companion to a wealthy American, meets the charismatic Maxim de Winter, they fall immediately in love. But when she returns to his home - a grand Cornwall estate called Manderley - she begins to wonder if he's really over his late wife Rebecca, who drowned in a nearby cove.
As she tries to find her place as 'lady of the manor', our heroine struggles with the legacy of the woman who came before her, as well as the cruel housekeeper Mrs Danvers.
Who is in the cast?
Lily James, star of Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again, Cinderella and Yesterday, takes the lead role of Mrs de Winter. She says that she has found the experience challenging. 'I found it really hard to let the second Mrs de Winter go', she told AnOther Magazine. 'I’m definitely an insecure person and the character is so deeply insecure that playing her preyed on my own insecurities. But that was quite an amazing dichotomy.'
Armie Hammer of Call Me By Your Name stars as her enigmatic new husband Maxim. This casting was announced in November of 2018, with further announcements made in May of 2019: The English Patient actress Kristin Scott Thomas plays Mrs Danvers,Bodyguard's Keeley Hawes plays Maxim's sister Beatrice, and Control's Sam Riley stars as Jack Favell, a suspicious man with links to Rebecca. Other cast members include Ann Dowd, Ben Crompton and Tom Goodman.
Is this the first adaptation?
Rebecca is considered a classic of English Literature, and one of writer Daphne du Maurier's most famous works. It has been adapted before, including a 1940 film by Alfred Hitchcock featuring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, and a TV drama starring Emilia Fox and Diana Rigg. This time, director Ben Wheatley does the honours, with Stardust writer Jane Goldman behind the script.
When is it out?
If you fancy it, you can now watch Rebecca. It was released on October 21 2020.
Where was it filmed?
Filming took place in 2019, beginning in June. Scenes were shot at Hartland Quay in Devon in July. Lily found her character difficult to shake. 'I found it really hard to let go of the character,' she said at a Bafta event at the 2019 International Film Festival & Awards Macao. 'She’s really bullied and gas lighted, she lives in a difficult headspace. I kept having panic attacks after it finished, I couldn’t shake it off.'
Is there a trailer?
Yes! Watch it below...
READ MORE: The Best Films Of 2019 To Watch Right Now In 2020