Obscure Movie Recommendation: Rebirth (2015)
As a work-from-home, full-time creative person, I find myself sitting down for long periods of time. Sometimes I’ll listen to a book or podcast as I crochet, but more often than not it’s easier to just put a movie or TV show on. I have a hard time finding things to watch after a while, so inevitably, a search and search and search for something interesting to watch.
The other day I found a movie called Rebirth in the ‘suspenseful movies’ section on Netflix. The trailer intrigued me when it opened with an infomercial-style advertisement for a self-help group called Rebirth. A series of testimonials by supposed Rebirth participants paints a vague picture of all the wonderful benefits the Rebirth curriculum has to offer. It felt like it was playing off all the fucked up footage the NXIVM cult used to draw people in to take their classes so I thought what the hell! What’s two hours of my life I was gonna stand watching some other bullshit while I worked?
At first I found myself not paying much attention. We follow the story of an average white guy with a wife and daughter, a boring desk job and regimented day-by-day. He’s not necessarily in a rut, but he’s used to fulfilling the same routine day after day. When an old friend from college shows up out of the blue inviting him to a mysterious weekend retreat, he’s skeptical.
And I totally understand why! This random guy from your past who you used to get wasted with in college suddenly shows up with a very vague description of an ‘adventure’ he wants to take you on over the weekend? This guy seems weird, but our protagonist is curious…what if what he’s saying is true?
The rest of the movie takes on the rocky rollercoaster of the Rebirth weekend getaway. Lot’s of uncomfortable moments, unanswered questions and creep people doing weird things. Gosh, now I sound like the vague infomercial people! I’m just trying not to spoil the movie!
What I really enjoyed about this movie was the bizarre moment-to-moment shifts in tone and pacing. Throughout the whole movie I was trying to figure out what the twist would be. What does this culty organization actually do? In the end, the twist wasn’t so much a twist but a heightened ending to a bizarre ride. This movie made me laugh a lot, some out of discomfort and some out of interesting dynamics and dialogue between the characters. If you like wacky rides and b-movies, this is worth a watch!!!
Let me know what you think! :)
