Rebuilding – Film Review

Director – Max Walker-Silverman
Writer – Max Walker-Silverman
Stars – Josh O’Connor, Lily LaTorre, Meghann Fahy

Set in modern-day Colorado, we meet Dusty (Josh O’Connor), a cowboy who has lost it all! His farm and house were destroyed in a wildfire that swept the land, destroying all in its wake. The state emergency fund has provided him with a trailer to live in, and he has a job working on the roads, but he is a cowboy and wants to return to what he loves. He has the chance to work for a relation during calving season in Montana. The only thing keeping him in these parts is Callie-Rose (Lily LaTorre), his daughter from his relationship with Ruby (Meghann Fahy). We see Dusty as he starts his life again after the fire.

This film is written and directed by Max Walker-Silverman, who is a relatively new name. His first full-length feature was A Love Song, from 2022.

This is a languid tale of a man and his relationship with his daughter. We get an insight into what keeps him going. He has a difficult choice: leave the people he loves to start again somewhere else, or stay with next to nothing. The farm was in the family for generations, but there is a growing acceptance that the climate has changed.

We meet a large number of people who are part of Dusty’s life. The other people in the trailer park, who slowly become his friends, along with his daughter, Callie-Rose’s family. Interestingly, Bess (Amy Madigan) plays a pivotal role as Callie-Rose’s grandmother.

This is not a film with plot twists or other surprises. It’s a small sample of life that shows us how this man deals with the loss of his worldly possessions, and also a view of what is important in life. Josh O’Connor is once more captivating in the main role of a reticent farmer, who slowly accepts the changes in his life. It’s a slow and poignant tale of a part of America rarely seen on screen.