The community of Paradise, California, a town in the Sierra Nevada foothills, attempts to rebuild after devastating wildfires in 2018.... (Full plot summary below)
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The community of Paradise, California, a town in the Sierra Nevada foothills, attempts to rebuild after devastating wildfires in 2018.
Leave your thoughts about Rebuilding Paradise.
| Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsIt’s frequently gripping and finally very moving. The director’s innate decency and forthright sense of craft does justice to a painful subject — one with unexpected connections to the 2020 pandemic moment. |
| RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzThe result, a National Geographic production, is a gripping and moving story, even though it never quite lives up to its opening section, which is directed by Howard and edited (by M. Watanabe Milmore and Gladys Murphy) with such elegance and visceral power that it might be the most impressive piece of storytelling Howard has ever been associated with. |
| The PlaylistAsher LubertoRebuilding Paradise reminds us that even after a razing, life will return and grow from under the ashes of destruction. |
| Austin ChronicleSteve DavisRebuilding Paradise speaks to the resiliency of human beings, and maybe something about the American can-do spirit. |
| The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinIt brings into focus not just the painful losses of loved ones and homes, but the sheer daunting scale of logistical planning, fundraising and negotiation with bureaucracies needed to rebuild the community. |
| Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangWhile the filmmaker keeps his eyes peeled for every possible shred of good news in the wake of disaster, he has little interest in peddling easy inspiration; the stakes are too colossal, the devastation too raw. |
| Boston GlobeTy BurrRebuilding Paradise is well worth seeing, but know that Howard’s taste for the upbeat keeps getting drowned out by a dire and dissonant doomsday drum. |
| The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThough it might seem generic in some respects, Rebuilding Paradise resonates with the moment. |
| Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMr. Howard wants us to know that greater challenges lie ahead — not a welcome reminder while we’re in the grips of the coronavirus. Yet his documentary also dramatizes the resilience and resourcefulness we can bring to bear in meeting them. Calamity, the film says, isn’t destiny. |
| TimeStephanie ZacharekBeing fortunate enough to survive a catastrophic event doesn’t necessarily protect you from future heartbreak. Rebuilding Paradise recognizes that, though it also offers some cautious optimism. This is a movie about how life goes on, in defiance of whatever may have been burned away. |
