Alex Wheeler Movie Ops

There are only a few rules when it comes to filmmaking, and Rebuilding manages to break one. Namely, people expect things to happen. Or at least something. Anything. It’s right in the tenant ‘books are about what we think and feel and movies are about what we say and do.’ In movies, characters do and say things. Very little of either happens in Rebuilding.

The lack of saying is easily explained. Its main character is a classic taciturn cowboy, more content to bond with his horse than his daughter. It’s possible his quiet, solitary life would’ve stretched into oblivion if it wasn’t for the wildfire that burned his ranch to the ground. Which is a thing that happened, but it occurred before the film begins.

By the time we catch up with our taciturn cowboy, Dusty (Josh O’Connor), he’s reluctantly accepting one of the trailers FEMA provided to the fire victims. He put it off for weeks, couch surfing and sleeping in his truck instead of moving into close quarters with other displaced folks. His reluctance isn’t just pride. Moving in means accepting the loss not just of his home but his identity. The ranch had been in his family for generations. He is a rancher. And he can’t be a rancher living in a trailer far from his land. 

Dusty is a lost man, hence the lack of action. O’Connor hits an immaculate balance of strength and deflation in his portrayal, and that complexity is what holds your attention throughout Rebuilding. His slow, assured movements will ring true for anyone familiar with the Americana of trucks and belt buckles. But his predicament is betrayed by a slight stoop, his head gazing down a bit too much. The sadness in him is pervasive, and it can’t be hidden by his Carhartt and Stetson. 

His ex fills his time with long-overdue fatherhood duties. Their daughter, Callie-Rose (an excellent Lily LaTorre), slowly pries open his shell, as does his new neighbor, Mila (Kali Reis). Not forcefully, but slowly, gently. Like everything in the movie, you almost don’t see it happening.

Writer/director Max Walker-Silverman isn’t interested in grand adventures. This is only his second film, and his debut effort, A Love Song, had similar pacing. He makes films about what people think and feel, and he makes them riveting. He and O’Connor make Dusty into an intimately understood man despite his walls, capturing the honesty of lonely men and the ways they can, if they take a leap, save themselves.

Leap is a strong word. Dusty takes a step, maybe two, in the right direction. The lack of major change will certainly frustrate viewers who want a brisk pace, but those who want to lose themselves in a small, immacculately drawn world will find the film rapturous. The dust of Colorado is palpable. The differences between each trailer’s setup and decor tells you more about the people floating around Dusty than any conversation could. And the wide-open sky, a staple of the American Western, is as apt to bring beauty as chaos.

Rebuilding feels like a labor of love by all involved, its details giving away an unusual level of care given by everyone in front of and behind the camera. In a way, this is reflective of what the film gently builds towards. Not a hero coming in to save the handful of people whose lives were burned down by the fire, but those handful of people deciding to look out for each other. A little group, plugging away, building something beautiful. 

The American Western has been going strong for a while now. Small, thoughtful films like Rebuilding have become prominent in no small part thanks to the influence of Kelly Reichardt. So while Rebuilding isn’t breaking new ground, it still feels defiant. It refuses to give you a crescendo, a breaking point, good guys or bad guys. Instead, it asks you to sit with a broken man and watch him mend himself. With a little help from his friends.

Release: In theaters November 14th
Director: Max Walker-Silverman
Writers: Max Walker-Silverman
Cast: Josh O’Connor, Meghann Fahy, Kali Reis, Amy Madigan