Phillip learns of the death of his cousin Ambrose who was his surrogate father. Determined to lift the veil on this dubious death, he finds himself animated by a desire for revenge vis-à-vis the widow of the latter whom he had met very recently… A new adaptation of one of the seminal works of the novelist Daphné du Maurier, My Cousin Rachel retains its sensual vein, the fool's game and the social discourse focused on the place of women in a highly patriarchal society.
Male hysteria, female seduction
By entrusting the role of this captivating and vampirizing widow to Rachel Weisz, Roger Michell (director of the cult Notthing Hill love at first sight) finds here his most beautiful idea, almost legitimizing his film. Alas, by perpetually bringing the story back to the character of Phillip, less finely written and therefore less captivating, the director loses the thread and the power of the ideas sketched through his heroine, leaving his viewer on the bench of the stakes of this drama.
Nevertheless, the premise of My Cousin Rachel remains interesting since it stages a male hysteria. By exposing throughout a male character animated or even charred by desire, the film offers an inversion of codes and an interesting shift since Phillip passes from the desire for revenge to carnal desire. This is how Rachel's appearance is delayed. She is thus desired as much by Phillip as by the spectator intrigued by this disturbing woman perceived through the prism of the epistolary correspondence of an agonizing and paranoid Ambrose. This paranoia will never completely leave the film soaked in a murky atmosphere and remaining at the crossroads of several genres.
Sometimes thriller sparing suspense from one sequence to another, sometimes love drama between two furious characters with ambiguous personalities, the film does not refuse any detour. The spectator is thus never won over by a sharp certainty. Through a realization that never imposes dogmas, he finds himself sharing a mutual feeling of distrust with Phillip, but also sometimes towards him when he falls into an obsessive rage. Roger Michell also takes the opportunity to take a clinical look at a patriarchal society in which Rachel does not find herself and which will use all possible means to conquer her freedom, even if it means playing with the naivety of a young man without landmarks.
Landscapes and crustaceans …
Even if it shares their unpredictability or even their primitiveness, the nature exposed through the absolute beauty of the landscapes contrasts with the graying character of this rather uneven duo. Indeed, Sam Cliflin's performance is often overshadowed or even crushed by Rachel Weisz, who appears as a monster of nuances. Phillip's trajectory tipping into madness is therefore sometimes rude and less feverish than expected. The viewer therefore feels very little empathy and comes out only moderately involved by this story of destructive passion.
Offering an interesting reflection on the desire mixed with the emancipatory ambitions of a woman trapped by a society still governed by men, My Cousin Rachel suffers from the weakness of a male character lacking consistency and depth.It is therefore a remarkable Rachel Weisz to discover in priority on July 26 at the cinema.
My Cousin Rachel trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZKRb0mwRoo
