PARK CITY – A line repeated in Max Walker-Silverman’s “Rebuilding,” a world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, will stick with you long after the credits roll. It’s simple but in the context of this tender drama packs a punch, “You got what you got.” Considering the film’s unfortunate and timely subject matter, it will resonate in ways Walker-Silverman may never have imagined.
A working rancher in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, Dusty (Josh O’Connor), has lost just about everything. His family ranch, the means of his livelihood, was destroyed in a wildfire blaze two months prior. All he has left is a few boxes of personal belongings and his riding horse, which is being sheltered at a friend’s farm. Having spent time living in his truck and crashing on couches, he’s finally taken the offer to live in a FEMA-provided trailer till he can figure out his next move.
Although embarrassed by his situation, he finally visits his daughter Callie-Rose (Lily LaTorre) who lives with her mother Ruby (Meghann Fahy) and grandmother Bess (Amy Madigan). If Dusty is shy and maybe a little introverted, the women in his life are anything but. His ex-wife pushes him to take Callie-Rose for a few hours while Bess lends a sympathetic ear. She and Dusty’s now-passed mother loved to hang out on that ranch. The women in Dusty’s life dominate this film and for all the right reasons.
After bringing her to the camp, Dusty discovers Callie-Rose needs to complete some schoolwork on an electronic tablet. Dusty doesn’t even have a cellphone, let alone wifi, so they head to the local library. It’s closed, but they leave the login info on the door for county residents to use. They’ll return to use the internet there a couple of times throughout the movie, and they won’t be alone. Walker-Silverman makes sure to include the pockets of people who also hang out in the cars and need to use the wifi. The people of this valley are resourceful.
There are five other trailers at the FEMA camp, all housing victims of the same wildfire Dusty endured. One night, Mila (Kali Reis) coaxes him into joining their impromptu community for dinner one night. And as the days pass, Dusty hears their stories and learns what they have lost. These are low-income residents who are grateful to have their partner or child but little else. These scenes feel like an echo of the lives chronicled in Chloe Zao’s “Nomadland.” Five years later, it seems so little has changed.
Dusty’s in trouble, though. His finances are failing and he can barely survive off the roadwork job FEMA found him. His last hope is a bank loan to rebuild his home and re-seed his farm. He’s rejected not because of his credit score, but mother nature. The soil is so burned it may not grow crops or grass again for eight to 10 years. He may be forced to head to Montana, where a cousin can use his help on their ranch. That would mean leaving Callie-Rose and potentially not seeing her for months or longer.
As a filmmaker, Walker-Silverman’s talents are letting a narrative unfold without pretense or melodrama. When the events are this powerful you don’t need to ratchet up the stakes. And when you have actors such as O’Connor, Fahy (incredible), Reis (best work of her relatively short career), LaTorre (you would never believe she’s Australian), and the always sublime Madigan, you have an ensemble that can ground the emotional stakes all on their own.
“Rebuilding” will have a long life, but you cannot ignore that it has debuted less than two weeks since the devastating January wildfires in Los Angeles. That makes every setback Dusty endures sting a bit more. And the sense of loss of generations of memories even more heartbreaking. But this story will play out a few months from now, a year from now and as climate change intensifies, decades from now. So take it all in, because often, “you got what you got.” [B+]
