Netflix’s Rebecca remakes the classic Hitchcock film of the same name, and delivers viewers suspense and romance. While the film may take a painfully slow path, the twists and turns it delivers makes it worth the watch. Check out my movie review in this parents guide.
The new Netflix movie Rebecca is much like the second Mrs. de Winter, it will always be compared to the original and most likely, not live up to those expectations. Admittedly I have never seen Hitchcock’s version of Rebecca, but I can only imagine how difficult it must be to walk in those shoes. Wheatley seems to walk the walk well, as I truly enjoyed his version of Rebecca! Yes it has its flaws but the romance, suspense and crazy twists make for an enjoyable watch. Check out my movie review in this parents guide.
Netflix Rebecca movie quotes
Rebecca Movie Parents Guide
Lily James plays a young woman who marries a wealthy widower Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer). They move to his family estate, Manderley, where she basically takes the role of woman of the house. However, the memory of his late wife Rebecca haunts her. Not in a ghost haunting way but everywhere she goes, and everyone she meets compares her to the late Rebecca. In fact the film is so centered around Rebecca de Winter’s memory, we never even find out the name of Lily James character!
The story of the new couples romance, her settling into the woman of the house role and slowly learning all the details of Rebecca’s death slowly, and I mean slowly unfolds. The movie has tons of twists and turns, so I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say by the time you are “over” hearing about Rebecca, the plot takes a crazy twist and the twists don’t stop coming after that. So much so, that the last 30 minutes of the film feels like it’s on fast forward!
Age Appropriateness Of Rebecca
As I mentioned, this movie definitely moves at a slow pace that even older teens might lack interest in it. It will definitely lose the interest of younger ones and not really appropriate for kids younger then ones in late teeenage years. The film is pretty graphic as far as the violent content, as we see talks of suicide and at one point a character holds a gun to himself and begs to be shot. There is also murder and scenes of a dead body floating in the water, as well as a suicide scene, we see someone jump off a cliff to their death.
As far as sexual content, we don’t see too much. We do see the couple falling in love and some passionate kissing scenes. There is talk about particular characters sleeping around, and having sex, becoming pregnant but not many graphic sexual scenes persay. I was surprised as there was not a lot of bad language to discuss. Sure we get an ocassional “damn”, but not many cuss words. The harshest language I can think of is accusations of sleeping around, at one time our main character was accused of trapping men between her legs.
Overall Thoughts
I enjoyed Netflix’s Rebecca but it is definietly one that will take commitment to watch. With its slow pace, it is easy to become distracted and/or uninterested. While this film is a suspenseful thriller, in all honesty 30 minutes could have been cut out and not take away anything from the plot. There were scenes which might have led up to the suspense but did not deliver, like the whole sleepwalking part of the story. Sure it was creepy but it was not needed, did not really add content to the story and led viewers nowhere.
The acting was phenominal! I especially have to give a shout out to Ms. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas), who is the housekeeper at Manderley, and still truly devoted to the late Rebecca. The way she lurked around corners, and showed no emotion added to the creepy vibe of Manderley. And when needed, she delivered a emotional performance which had viewers rooting for her, and then hating her, and then rooting for her again.
Despite 75% of the story being at a snails pace, the last 30 minutes was in fast forward and had your jaw dropping in every scene. And in the end, this story truly is about “love” and what one will do for the one they love, and that in itself is the most beautiful message a movie can deliver.
I know I made the right decision, to save the one thing worth walking through flames for. Love.
