Rebirth is one of the latest movies that is now available on Netflix. The story revolves around Kyle, played by Fran Kranz, who is a bank’s social media manager. One day, he receives a call from an old friend (played by Adam Goldberg) who tells him about ‘rebirth,’ which is something he wants Kyle to experience. Kyle eventually makes the decision to attend the event, but soon discovers that ‘rebirth’ is more dangerous than it appears.
Sounds amazing huh? A thrilling movie that most people would love to watch, don’t you think? Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly my viewpoint as well. Unfortunately, this is not what this movie is about. And no, I am not going to berate this film for being different from my expectations. However, I am going to point out that the premise is rather misleading.
I will not recommend this film to anyone. As much as I would love to promote films like Rebirth, it is not one I would feel comfortable advocating. The few things I did not like are the odd plot elements and the overall character development. What was more shocking and odd were the performances which in my opinion were the bigger problem.
Fran does not have much to offer as Kyle, especially since Kyle is not that impressive to begin with. To say that he is not that interesting or intelligent in the film is an understatement. That is exactly what he is. He is just a stand in for the audience. On a different note, Zack, the aforementioned old friend played by Adam Goldberg, is really fun to watch.
Equally, one character that drove me up the wall is Naomi, played by Nicky Whelan. I bet if Whelan had any agency, she would have done it differently but she was directed toward that infuriating portrayal, which unfortunately really damages the film, the experience everything. Unbearable. Infuriating. Insufferable. Infuriating would be the right word. The film on the whole was at times much too infuriating to digest.
Rebirth is as it’s name suggests; a coming to life of many different ideas. Although I think I would end up categorizing it as a satire, I did not always know what the people making the film set out to accomplish. Sometimes, it appears rather humorous, and at other times, it comes across as deeply satirical. Rebirth is certainly an experience but it is not something I would want to put myself through again in the near future.
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