Film Review: REBUILDING
by Karen Pecota

Max Walker-Silverman, USA 2025

A devastating wildfire destroys several homesteads of a small-town community in southern Colorado forcing those who lost everything to take refuge in a FEMA-owned trailer housing site until each family can figure out their next steps of survival in filmmaker Max Walker-Silverman’s REBUILDING.

An American West rancher, Dusty (Josh O’Connor) is among those who lost his livelihood to a horrific wildfire that consumed thousands of acres; but he finds solace with his new neighbors as they first mourn their loss, then over time awake to the possibilities that a changing environment could hold a positive future for each.

Recognizing first and foremost what is most important to the families is their relational connections with family, friends, and those who lend a helping hand out of generosity and kindness. Dusty begins to reconnect with his ex-wife Ruby (Meghann Fahy) and daughter Callie-Rose (Lily LaTorre). Day by day each relationship grows closer which includes that of his new neighbors. Dusty gleans something precious from each relationship as it gives him   support to find promise and hope to rebuild in the land he loves. It’s an environment that is forgiving and over time it enables a new start. One that can support and revive the whole community.

Walker-Silverman writes and directs a narrative like a personal family tragedy of the way his grandmother lost her property. The experience of his family’s emotional trauma and devastation of tangible loss, family members living under one roof, and the uncertainty of their survival. A relatable scenario today of those devastated by other acts of nature—floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes.

What happened next was a surprise and the reason Walker-Silverman could not resist putting pen to paper to write a telling story that from out of the ashes new life will abound.  He saw firsthand on his grandmother’s property from a fire-blackened earth, green seedlings push through the ash. The re-imagination of a community’s life and resilience is what the American West is all about. Though sorrow and sadness exist, joy comes in the morning, more often than not!

Walker-Silverman notes, “Dusty’s character in REBUILDING discovers that rebuilding is not just a matter of reconstruction, but an act of re-imagination, that comes from within. He must learn that as places change so can we, that he can be more than a rancher, he can be a father too, and a neighbor, and that is enough.” Concluding, “Sometimes it takes loss to learn what we have. So, this is not a disaster movie, it’s about what happens after. And time and time again what happens afterwards is love and care and community and a desire to do things better.”