A fairy tale transforms into a nightmare in “Rebecca,” an atmospheric Gothic pic based on Daphne du Maurier’s classic novel. A trailer for the Lily James-starrer kicks off with a whirlwind romance. Told that Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer, “On the Basis of Sex”), a recent widower, is in “dire need of company,” a young woman (James, “Cinderella”) working as a lady’s companion begins spending time with him. The pair fall madly in love, and it’s not long before Maxim proposes, and sweeps the new Mrs. de Winter away to Manderly, his family’s impressive estate on the English coast.
Once at Manderly, Mrs. de Winter can’t escape the shadow of her predecessor. “[Rebecca] was the love of his life. I wonder what she’s thinking about you — taking her husband, using her name,” Maxim’s housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas, “Military Wives”) says. The accident that left Rebecca dead is alluded to but never clearly explained. “You can talk to me about her. I have no secrets from you,” Mrs de. Winter pleads with her groom. He maintains that “all marriages have their secrets.”
“Rebecca” has been adapted a number of times, most famously by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940. The latest take on du Maurier’s 1938 book hits Netflix October 21. Jane Goldman, Anna Waterhouse, and Joe Shrapnel penned the script.
