Horror comedy isn’t easy to make. Too often, films will lean too hard to one side, making the other feel out of place. If it’s too scary, the humor doesn’t always feel appropriate, and if it’s too funny, the scares may not be as effective. Sadly, I think The Rebrand falls into the category of trying so hard to be funny or campy that it mostly forgets it’s also trying to be a horror movie. Not only that, but in doing so, it becomes a bit too predictable.
In The Rebrand, “Nicole, an eight-month-pregnant videographer, is hired by a lesbian lifestyle influencer couple to film a redemption documentary after they’ve been publicly cancelled, but Nicole quickly discovers that the couple has nefarious ulterior motives.”
On paper, The Rebrand should absolutely be my cup of tea. I love found footage/in-world-camera films that make some sort of social commentary on influencer culture. There are great films within this sub-genre like #ChadGetsTheAxe, Demonetize, and Mind Body Spirit. Several even lean into horror comedy elements. The difference is in how the comedic elements are used. In The Rebrand, it’s more of that uncomfortable comedy style that you get when something is cringey, and you’re suffering from secondhand embarrassment. Without spoilers, I think there is a way that this film could have ended that would have been more of a shock and more in line with the overall feel of the film. Given that it didn’t end that way, it either needed to be even more unhinged, or less so. As it stood, it was almost too close to what we see happen online to feel committed to its outlandishness.
With this in mind, the tension, or lack thereof, becomes a problem. Similarly to how we can predict the path an influencer will take during their own rebrand, you can see the plot twists of this film coming a mile away. This detracts from what little unease there is when the character motives are blatantly apparent. I previously mentioned a lack of commitment to camp; sadly, the same goes for the tension. There are definitely moments in the film that want the viewer to be unsettled, but they end up thrown away for something goofy. The lack of a smooth transition between these tones gives viewers a sort of whiplash akin to riding the Matterhorn at Disneyland. Bits of humor in an otherwise tense movie can really ratchet up the scares by giving viewers a false sense of security. The Rebrand seems to have no real interest in doing this.
It’s not all bad, however. I did like the performances by Naomi Silver-Vézina (Nicole) and Andi E. McQueen (Blair). I also think the idea of the movie is a solid one. While the execution and specifics didn’t work for me, I think there is a lot of room to tell stories about how influencers can fairly quickly rebrand themselves with little repercussion. Especially given that there are so many types of influencers and the ways they do this are both similar and very different. I would love to see a film tackle this with less comedy. Sure, most influencer culture is kind of silly, but there is a dark side to it that I think is mostly untapped when it comes to horror movies.
Overall, I don’t think The Rebrand is a bad watch. It has a brief runtime, so it doesn’t really overstay its welcome, and it has some interesting moments. It’s just not a film that I will think about a whole lot or consider recommending. That said, as with most in-world-camera films, mileage may vary, so check it out for yourself. The Rebrand is available on VOD for rental and purchase as well as Hoopla (though availability may vary per library).
My Rating: 2.5/5