By Rebirth
Director: Karl Mueller
Rating: NR
Release Date: April 17, 2016 (limited)
Rebirth stars Fran Kranz as Kyle, a husband and father who’s lives a well off life. But he’s been a bit unfulfilled lately as his college dreams have been pushed aside in favor of his family and a boring desk job. When his old college buddy Zack (Adam Goldberg) invites him to a retreat for a weekend, and won’t stop talking about how great this “Rebirth” seminar is, Kyle decides to go for it. But Kyle soon realizes that “Rebirth” might be a more twisted program then they initially let on. Despite their mantra of “You’re free to leave whenever you want” escaping the seminar proves tough.
Rebirth is a Netflix Original production and the choices within reflect that. It’s full of these quirky little details that releasing on streaming services would help it get away with. The film is open to to risks and, more often than not, those risks pay off. Unfortunately, the entertainment is too reliant on those little quirks to succeed. The film is fairly predictable and you can pretty much guess how it’s going to get from point A to B, and because of this, the little detours every now and again are that much more interesting. They’re often non-sequiturs, so as to not derail the main plot, so these little jokes feel more refreshing. For example, Kyle ends going through several different types of seminar rooms during his escape attempt. Each room has its own theme with the ultimate goal of keeping Kyle around, so the film spends time with each room and plays around with how they’d try and brainwash Kyle. Each of these moments are inconsequential, but fun.
These little touches may not be needed, but they help elevate the rest of the film. It’s dark blend of humor and chills turns out to be the perfect take on its premise. And its loose structure of stumbling on room after room, along with Kranz’s key performance, amplifies the plot’s inherent frustration. You’ll start feeling frustration as Kyle continues to fail and seeing how goofy some of the rooms and Rebirth’s denizens are will only make you angrier. So while they’re inconsequential to the plot, it helps the film’s overall vibe and tension. What also helps is just how game everyone is with the film. Each actor turns in a kooky performance as the know exactly what kind of film Rebirth wants to be.
I love Adam Goldberg, and it’s always a pleasure to see him pop up in a project. He’s slightly underutilized here, but seeing as he steals every scene he’s in that’s probably best. Fran Kranz does a great job leading the film along, however. His neurotic, terrified performance gives the premise the credibility and weight it needs even when the seminar doesn’t seem as dangerous as he’s perceiving it to be. Rebirth is also shot in an interesting way with long periods of stillness coupled with short bursts of following Kyle through the dingy house the seminar is in. We’re effectively put into Kyle’s shoes and when the film truly goes off the rails, we’re along for the ride.
Rebirth isn’t a bad film at all, but it’s not necessarily great either. But it’s got such a well crafted personality and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a fun little romp that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
You won’t exactly feel a rebirth afterwards, but you won’t die either.
