Middleburg Review: “Rebuilding”

Rebuilding (Max Walker-Silverman, 2025) 4½ out of 5 stars

In his 2022 feature debut, A Love Song, writer/director Max Walker-Silverman demonstrated a gentle, but assured, confidence behind the camera that made of the movie a poignant study of late-in-life romance. Lead performers Dale Dickey and Wes Studi brought their A games to the project, as did cinematographer Alfonso Herrera Salcedo, the sincere performances and breathtaking imagery combining in profound ways. Both elements are on lovely display once more in Walker-Silverman’s newest movie, Rebuilding.

Josh O’Connor (Wake Up Dead Man) stars as Dusty, a man who, as the story begins, has lost almost everything from a raging wildfire. Now homeless—his ranch and childhood house burned to the ground—he despondently takes up residence in a FEMA trailer while working in road construction. It’s not quite the life for a born-and-bred modern cowboy from southern Colorado. An opportunity for something closer to his interests beckons in Montana.

But that would mean leaving the area where his ex-wife, Ruby (Meghann Fahy, Drop), and daughter, Callie-Rose (Lily LaTorre, Runt), reside, not to mention abandoning everything and everyone he has ever known, including his former mother-in-law, Bess (Amy Madigan, Weapons), who was best friends with his own mother. It’s bad enough that he has been avoiding Callie-Rose since the fire; but to disappear for good? That seems unconscionable.

Especially since Ruby decides that what her little girl needs is more daddy time. Slowly, Dusty forges a new bond with Callie-Rose, helped by the makeshift collective of fellow weather refugees in nearby trailers, among them Mila (Kali Reis, Catch the Fair One) and her daughter, Lucy (Zeilyanna Martinez). Will these connections prove enough to keep him from running away? It’s a beautiful land, after all, despite Dusty’s setbacks.

Working once again with Herrera Salcedo, Walker-Silverman crafts a narrative filled with magnificent landscapes that mirror the moving emotional topography of the characters. As high as the heartfelt stakes may be, however, the film never wavers from its restrained approach to sentiment. Everyone feels deeply, but the way they express themselves is a modicum of understatement.

O’Connor always impresses, and here he has a brilliant costar in young LaTorre. Though the world has seen its share of fine child actors, there can sometimes be an unfortunate theatricality that creeps into their delivery. Not so with LaTorre, who delivers lines filled with meaning, mature beyond her years.

Everyone is great, the ensemble conveying both the sadness of the situation and hope for something better. Community is precious, especially in times of crisis. Rebuilding celebrates the way we come together and thrive through altruism, generosity and, most importantly, compassion. Love and cherish thy neighbor.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Chris Reed is the editor of Film Festival Today. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.