Rebuilding ★★★★

Released: 17 April 2026

Directed: Max Walker-Silverman

Starring: Josh O’Connor, Lily LaTorre, Meghann Fahy, Kali Reis, Amy Madigan

When the emotions are as high as they are in Rebuilding, the best tone to opt for is often one of quiet introspection as opposed to brash emotional release. Max Walker-Silverman, who wrote and directed the similarly unassuming but evocative A Love Song (2022), recognises this and puts such subtlety into effect quite beautifully. Both A Love Song and Rebuilding are set in Colorado, but the shared location is only the beginning of the parallels between these two sensitive and slight films. Operating in hushed tones amidst the stunning backdrop of the Colorado wilderness, telling stories of Americans reckoning with grief or sidelined to the margins of society. With just two feature films, Walker-Silverman has established his cinematic voice with a rare grace and poeticism. 

Character-wise, Rebuilding is more expansive than A Love Song, with an ensemble of characters on show compared to the concentrated duo of Walker-Silverman’s first feature. Nevertheless, the focus is very much on cowboy Dusty (Josh O’Connor, Challengers, as sublime and endlessly watchable as always). Rebuilding begins directly after a defining event for Dusty: the destruction of his ranch by wildfires. We don’t see the disaster itself, but we are privy to its wide-reaching effects. It isn’t just his home that Dusty has lost, but his livelihood too, as well as his cherished childhood memories. The title of the film is much less about the physical reconstruction of what Dusty has lost, and more about the emotional and psychological rebuilding he must go through.

Central to this process is repairing his relationship with young daughter Callie Rose (Lily LaTorre, Run Rabbit Run), who now lives with his ex-wife Ruby (Meghann Fahy, Drop), her mother Bess (Amy Madigan, Weapons), and her new partner Robbie (Sam Engbring, A Love Song). O’Connor and LaTorre share a stunning on-screen chemistry; their father-daughter relationship is so believable and moving, which is vital for the plot of Rebuilding to succeed. O’Connor’s Dusty is a man of few words, and the actor communicates as much to the viewer through his downcast eyes and slumped posture as he does through his line delivery. LaTorre equally impresses as O’Connor, imbuing Callie Rose with both a childlike innocence and a maturity beyond her young years.

Fahy and Madigan’s characters are given less to work with, but these terrific actors work wonders with the more restricted screentime they both have. Walker-Silverman falters slightly with the rest of the ensemble, the majority of which consist of the makeshift community that Dusty finds himself in, alongside those also affected by the wildfires. Characters like Mali (Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country) feel too thinly drawn, despite being interesting within their scenes. In turn, this causes Rebuilding to lose some of its dramatic and emotional impetus with an ending that focuses too heavily on this underdeveloped community.

Despite these slight shortcomings, Rebuilding excels, as its emotional resonance comes from its central father-daughter relationship. Alfonso Herrera Salcedo’s (The Hole in the Fence) gorgeous cinematography lends the events, however devastating they are, a hopeful overlay; Callie Rose offers similar positivity to Dusty’s increasingly tough situation. At first glance, Rebuilding feels slight, but Walker-Silverman’s layered screenplay and those terrific central performances ensure this genteel nature is only a front for something much deeper, more beautiful, and more moving.