The genre of "Rebuilding" undoubtedly brings us back to a realm that seems obsolete: the depiction of a slow-paced, American West lifestyle that was central to many Sundance movies. Here, the plot concentrates on Dusty, an American rancher embroiled in the rural charm of West America. His life, a depiction of the local banks, modest shops, cowboy hats, boots, and rustic dialogues, feels preserved in a time capsule. At a place like Sundance, such a movie has had a revolutionary appeal, symbolizing the co-existence of modernity and nostalgia. However, my feeling towards "Rebuilding" was ambivalent: it somehow fails to balance sophistication and pathos, becoming an incongruous amalgamation.
The performance of British actor Josh O'Connor as Dusty is worth highlighting. O’Connor embodies a man who has lost everything - his ancestral ranch consumed by a massive wildfire. This therapeutic retreat, constructed by his forefathers, has been reduced to an empty stretch of land, circled by skeletal, charred trees.
The movie also subtly hints at another loss, Dusty's estranged family. His ex-wife Ruby's (Meghann Fahy) life in town, their daughter, Callie Rose (Lily LaTorre) living with Ruby, and the scant interaction between Dusty and his daughter, make us yearn for more background. Surfacing questions like "Why can't Dusty reunite with his family?" are left purely for the audience's imagination.
The post-fire life of Dusty reveals a forgotten victim of climate change, living in a communal setting of identical, relief trailers. His dream, to revive his ranch on his barren 200 acres of land, is met with a harsh reality: the unfarmable aftermath of a "high severity" wildfire. This presentation leaves us with the devastating image of a man who has not just lost his home, but his life's work, dreams, and history. This situational hardship, however, lacks enough dramatic conflict to drive the story forward, making one question the sustainability of Dusty's future. In the end, based on the interpretation by Max Walker-Silverman, "Rebuilding" tries to beckon optimism but leaves us with uncertainty about Dusty's future.
