I went into The Rebrand wanting to like it, having heard it was a darkly comedic thriller about an online lifestyle influencer couple. Thankfully, I did like it. It was a close call though, and I'm disappointed that I didn't like it more, especially considering the wonderfully unhinged performance from Nancy Webb that carries the whole thing.
Webb also co-wrote this with director Kaye Adelaide, which perhaps explains why she ends up having the most fun. It's all about Blair (Andi E McQueen) and Thistle (Webb), the couple who hire a videographer (Nicole, played by Naomi Silver-Vézina) to help document what is supposed to be a triumphant redemption arc after their recent fall from grace. Nicole is also heavily pregnant, and bisexual, both traits that seem to provide occasional distractions for Blair and Thistle, although it sometimes seems as if they are more interested in the videographer than they are in the actual films being created.
There are a lot of individual moments here that are brilliant, particularly when playing around with the kind of tropes we see in thriller and horror movies. One scene having a couple of characters trying to escape in a car is hilarious and unnerving in equal measure, and I wanted more scenes like it. Unfortunately, The Rebrand doesn't have quite enough consistency, and a lot of other scenes just feel like filler. That wouldn't be such a bad thing if the filler felt honest to the characters, but there are far too many incidents that have the leads making the kind of amateur errors you just know aren't committed by those used to the online influencer life (even if they're not holding on to all of the marbles they may have once had).
McQueen is fine, as is Silver-Vézina, but it's Webb who walks away with the film. Everything else in it feels as if it is struggling to be just above average. Webb feels as if she starts at a 10/10, maintains that throughout, and ends at just the same level. Her performance is so great that her reappearance after any scenes without her presence always provides a much-needed shot of energy.
I don't want to take anything away from Adelaide, who does very good helming her first feature, but it will be very interesting to see what she does next, and how effective it is if she doesn't have such a strong personality to collaborate with. I'll look forward to that, but I'm even more eager to see what comes next from Webb, whether behind or in front of the camera (or both).
If I have any influence at all then I hope that others make time for The Rebrand. It's likely to work for some people better than it worked for me . . . and maybe that's just a sign of how determined I am to keep my life as far away from the insidious stealth-ads/negging of social media influencers as possible.
6/10
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