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Remake

Play trailer 2:01 Poster for Remake Jul 2026 1h 54m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 21 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Filmmaker Ross McElwee has spent forty years recording himself and his family, creating documentaries that chronicle the shifting contours of American society through the lens of personal history. His son Adrian grew up inside those films, and eventually began experimenting with the camera himself. When a Hollywood producer acquires the rights to adapt McElwee's 1986 breakthrough SHERMAN'S MARCH into a work of fiction, twenty-year-old Adrian sees a chance for his father to finally reach a wider audience. As the adaptation stalls, Adrian gets swept into a deepening drug addiction and dies from a fentanyl overdose, leaving behind hours of personal video footage. Retracing Adrian's final years, McElwee reckons with what his camera captured and what remained hauntingly out of frame. As he reflects on a lifetime behind the camera, Ross's own effort to remix and remake the movie that Adrian never got to finish takes on new significance. An ever-expanding hall of mirrors built from decades of home movies, REMAKE is both McElwee's attempt to hold onto his son, and to let him go.

Critics Reviews

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Robert Daniels RogerEbert.com 3h
4/4
For the viewer, who should take in the devastating mirror to grief that is "Remake," it’s an opportunity to offer solace by intently witnessing the footage of an observer whose imperfect gaze fills the frame with agonizing remorse. Go to Full Review Alissa Wilkinson New York Times 22h
As a meditation on memory and the passage of time, it is stunning. Go to Full Review Zach Lewis Slant Magazine 3d
3.5/4
Remake is many things, but at its heart, it’s a haunting reflection on the nature of memory. Go to Full Review Christopher Campbell Nonfics (Substack) 3h
Remake is as consciously engaging as any of his works. But it also feels his most personal and dependent. It’s appreciated best, if not only, if you’ve seen his previous documentaries and gotten to know him and his family along the way. Go to Full Review Todd Jorgenson Cinemalogue 6h
Both an elegy for a son and a meditation on artistic purpose, this autobiographical documentary transforms unbearable personal loss into a powerfully intimate probe of memory, creativity, and family legacies. Go to Full Review Jeff Nelson WeHo Times 8h
4.5/5
Ross McElwee’s latest documentary is so emotionally poignant and rich in reflection that it feels like memory transformed into a tangible form. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Stephen C @bob25009 4h Real footage in 1 hour and 54 minutes. See more Read all reviews
Remake

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Cast & Crew

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Ross McElwee

Director

Joe Bini

Director

Adrian McElwee

Self

Charleen Swansea

Self

Mark Meatto

Producer

Ross McElwee

Executive Producer
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Remake

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Remake

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Ross McElwee has spent forty years recording himself and his family, creating documentaries that chronicle the shifting contours of American society through the lens of personal history. His son Adrian grew up inside those films, and eventually began experimenting with the camera himself. When a Hollywood producer acquires the rights to adapt McElwee's 1986 breakthrough SHERMAN'S MARCH into a work of fiction, twenty-year-old Adrian sees a chance for his father to finally reach a wider audience. As the adaptation stalls, Adrian gets swept into a deepening drug addiction and dies from a fentanyl overdose, leaving behind hours of personal video footage. Retracing Adrian's final years, McElwee reckons with what his camera captured and what remained hauntingly out of frame. As he reflects on a lifetime behind the camera, Ross's own effort to remix and remake the movie that Adrian never got to finish takes on new significance. An ever-expanding hall of mirrors built from decades of home movies, REMAKE is both McElwee's attempt to hold onto his son, and to let him go.
Director
Ross McElwee, Joe Bini
Producer
Mark Meatto, Ross McElwee
Screenwriter
Ross McElwee
Distributor
Music Box Films
Production Co
Giant Squid, Impact Partners
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 10, 2026, Limited
Runtime
1h 54m