Rebuilding

1/5

Disappointing in almost every sense of the word. A lackluster lead performance by Josh O’Connor was the most surprising, given his track record of, at the very least, interesting indie films (La Chimera, The Mastermind). Even if those films didn’t work for me, that hardly reflected on O’Connor’s acting pedigree. As his profile has increased (Wake Up Dead Man, Challengers), I hope he is able to be a bit pickier about his roles. A rare miss for O’Connor, but a miss nonetheless.

This really falls at the feet of writer-director Max Walker-Silverman, who writes this film as if it’s a first draft (despite this being his sophomore effort), and shoots it as if it’s a student film — though I fear that may be too unkind to student filmmakers, who often take risks and punch far above their weight given their minuscule budgets.

This script is bare-bones. It revolves around Dusty (O’Connor), a farmer caught out of time, whose heart is in the right place but who can’t seem to make the choices that back up his true feelings. He’s the misunderstood cowboy, forced to reckon with a new reality after his farm and livelihood burn down. We get glimpses of his past, culminating in the film’s central conflict: how Dusty can fit his daughter into his narrow worldview.

You’ve seen this story before, and you know how it ends. It’s not a terrible template, but Rebuilding seems so uninterested in doing anything new with it. We meet a cast of characters living in temporary trailers — new neighbors impacted by the fire who were previously acres away are now within spitting distance. These characters are so thin that it would be more accurate to call them caricatures. It’s a complete waste of Kali Reis, and the film commits the cardinal sin of making all of these side characters more interesting than Dusty while using them only in relation to his character growth.

Meghann Fahy plays Ruby, Dusty’s ex (girlfriend? wife? It’s unclear), and she simply acts circles around everyone else. I came away impressed once again. After injecting a ton of life into her season of The White Lotus and last year’s thriller Drop, I continue to be inspired by her chameleon-like ability to embody these roles and make them her own. She picks up what little there is in the script and manages to make something wonderful with it. We learn so little about her, yet you understand her perfectly. She has one scene that asks so much of her, opposite her mother — another underutilized actor, Amy Madigan of Weapons — that moved me to tears. I may just be glad this film exists so Fahy can use that scene on her reel to showcase her undeniable talent. I wish I could say it was worth watching for her performance alone, but I’d advise just prioritizing her next project.