Netflix Releases Trailer for Ben Wheatley's 'Rebecca' Adaptation

Netflix has unveiled a first look at one of their major awards contenders.

The streaming giant has unleashed the trailer for the newest adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s classic gothic thriller, Rebecca. This newest version stars Armie Hammer, Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas and is directed by Ben Wheatley.

In the film, James plays a recently married woman who has arrived at the estate of her recent husband, played by Hammer. At first, everything seems to go romantically for the couple but things quickly take a turn when she becomes haunted by the ghost of his deceased first wife Rebecca. Thomas is playing the creepy housekeeper that is keeping Rebecca’s spirit alive.

The novel has been adapted many times for film and television with the most notable being Alfred Hitchcock’s version. Released in 1940, that movie featured Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine in the leads and earned 11 Academy Award nominations and two wins for Best Cinematography and Best Picture. It remains one of Hitchcock’s most beloved pictures and a classic thriller.

It seems that Wheatley is aware of how special the Hitchcock version is and rather then simply remake that version, he plans to stay true to what it is first and foremost, a love story. Judging from the footage seen in the trailer, it looks like he has done that as James and Hammer look to have solid chemistry and are believable as a couple.

What I find most interesting about the trailer is the way it is shot and edited. It reminded me a bit of Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby in that they are both new adaptations of classic novels that keep their time period but are updated in a way that makes them feel modern to today’s audiences. Whether that will be a benefit or not to the film’s quality is yet to be determined but Wheatley is a talented up and coming director and he has a great cast and Netflix’s endless cash supply to make something that maybe doesn’t seem like an awards player but will at least be interesting

Rebecca premieres on Netflix and in select open theaters on October 23. Check out the trailer below