Park City, Utah— For those of us who were lucky to avoid evacuation, much less the destruction that altered our lives, during the recent forest fires of Los Angeles, the last weeks have arrived with some numbness. After all, what level of grief is appropriate if you are experiencing it second hand?
“Rebuilding”, of the Max Walker-Silverman screenwriter and director, provided me with the departure I needed. Starring Josh O'Connor as Dusty, a rancher who tries to collect the pieces after a forest fire destroys his house, the film culminates in a moment of sadness (and resilience) that finally made me cry: “You have what you have” . As a character says, “and it was always enough for me.”
The film, which deals with abandoned fema trailers, bureaucratic procedures and the impossible choice between starting again or moving forward, was inspired by Walker-Silverman's own family tragedy: a forest fire destroyed his grandmother's house in Colorado, taking I get his beloved recipes and leaving his land, once green, is a blank burning scar. Co-starring Lily Latorre as Dusty's daughter, Callie-Rose; Meghann Fahy like her ex, Ruby, and Kali Reis like Mila, a woman who not only lost her house but also her husband in the fire. “Rebuilding”, at a surprising moment, tells a story that will be told many times in the coming years. in southern California and other disaster areas.
Before the premiere of the film, Walker-Silverman and the cast of the film visited the study of The Times at the Sunday Film Festival 2025. The conversation has been edited and condensed.
Max, I want to start with you, since your family's experience in a forest fire inspired the film. How is your family now? In what part of the reconstruction process are you all?
Max Walker-Silveman: This story arises from a very basic human thing, which is to love the home itself and feel good there, and then be forced to reconcile with that home that is fragile and that, sometimes, they take it away. And, curiously, even in this loss, a feeling of home remains and, in a very surprising way, deepens. It is an experience that I know and that many people know. And it is very surprising. This movie I created [is] It is not about disasters, ultimately, not losses, but the amazing things that happened later, who are, again and again, people who take care of each other and communities that join and people who are friends and neighbors in a way that they would never have done it differently. And I think I wrote this because the disaster will be part of our lives forever. It is not something that will really start or end. And if that is the case, hopefully the communities that join later can remain part of our lives as well.
For the rest of you, I wonder if this movie made something about the reconstruction process caught them, surprised them or perhaps dismayed about how that develops in our country at this time for people.
Josh O'Connor: As Max expresses it powerfully, these disasters are increasingly frequent and affect everyone, directly or indirectly, more frequently now. So I was really interested in Max's approach on the human side of how we respond. And the community is the solution in these matters. And I think that right now, as you mentioned, we are all very aware of what is happening in Los Angeles and around the world. And our work is to observe the human impact of these things.
Dusty begins very worried about “rebuilding as it was.” And what we see is to do is understand how change and adaptability could actually allow more hope than simply putting things as they were. How were the conversations between Max and you who helped you understand Dusty's mentality and how does it change throughout the film?
O'Connor: One of the first talks we had, and something that we explore a little and that in fact is in the film, is the surprising and magical moment in which green returns to the landscape. Dusty's image of rebuilding as it was, you know, replicating what they had, is somehow linked to pain. And there is something really exceptional in accepting something different that does not necessarily have to be worse or better, but new. That is what I really liked of this moment when green appeared: that panorama, regardless of whether he tries to obtain the loan or tries to reconstruct what he had, will never be the same again. And that can be somewhat beautiful.
It is interesting that you mention the pain because what I experienced when I saw the movie, Meghann, is when your character reads [a] letter [from her late mother]It was as if the emotions I had on the fire came out. I wonder if you could talk about how the atmosphere was on the set that day.
Meghann Fahy: The atmosphere on the set, like every day, was kind, loving and very peaceful. And it is a very intimate moment. We are all sitting at this table. And I think I felt energy support simply for being at that round table with those people.
Walker-Silverman: That scene you did there, Meghann, is really one of the most incredible performances I've seen in my life. I remember exactly where I was. I was curled up on that little staircase of the house with my monitor and I couldn't see well. And I realized that I was just crying. And then the shot ended and everyone on the set were crying.
FAHY: But that is what happens with the duel, is that you can feel very alone when you are in it. But that is such a perfect example of each person on that set, I am sure that everyone's life has been affected by pain. So it is such a beautiful representation, that moment of the film, of another deeply human experience. And it is a connective tissue, whether we are always aware of it or not.
Josh O'Connor and Lily Latorre in “Reconstruction.”
(Jesse Hope / Instituto Sunday)
Kali, your character Ask about staying in Colorado: “How much is missing to burn again?” I wonder how you understood your fear that the fires will return and cause destruction again, and then how it reaches a kind of point where it says: “Do you know what? I want to rebuild here and not elsewhere.”
Kings: She says that as much as I hate this place, she also loves him. And I think that is his final connection with the loss, not only of her home, but also of her husband. And I think his true connection will always be there, because that's where he lost them. So I know that, as much as she would like to flee the place she could burn again, that is the connector element she has and this community that built around this tragedy, this real human experience. You know, these natural disasters have no prejudice. Everyone joined in this community. So I think his final decision was: “If I have to go through this again, what better place to do it again? What better people?
One last question for the whole group. In a moment, Dusty says: “It's funny, the things that you like and the things you leave.” I wonder if the experience of making this film made them think of a family relic or an important element of their life, of their home, which would now say: “That is on my list to make sure to keep it.”
The tower: I found out a few days ago, but my great grandmother wrote a book; I think he was about his life or about the university he was to. And it is a very old book and we had it in our house and seeing the movie, it made me think: “Well, this is from my great -grandmother. I wouldn't want to leave it there. ” I would probably do everything possible to save that age and have the memory of my great -grandmother.
FAHY: That is great.
Walker-Silverman: My mom lost her mother's recipes in the fire, handwritten recipes. So I think I have some recipes from my mother that would treasure a lot.
O'Connor: My grandmother's ceramics would be as if I had an output strategy.
Kings: I would definitely keep the necklace my late brother. We are five and surely he would take his necklace.
FAHY: I have a jewel of my grandmother that I think would be something that I would like to keep.
