Ensemble cast and crews of My Cousin Rachel 2017:
My Cousin Rachel(2017) is a Psychological Romantic Drama, written and directed by Roger Michell. The film stars Rachel Weisz, Sam Clafin etc.
‘Love is blind, but when we close our eyes, we see with our hearts.’
Table of Contents
- Ensemble cast and crews of My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- ‘Love is blind, but when we close our eyes, we see with our hearts.’
- Story Analysis of My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- Ambrose’s Death; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- Philip’s invitation to Rachel; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- The Romantic Era; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- The new turn; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- Philip’s 25th Birthday: My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- The Ending Explained; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- Plot Twist; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
- Was Rachel guilty in My Cousin Rachel 2017?
- Vocabulary:
- Similar Movies :May December(2023) Best Plot Analysis
Story Analysis of My Cousin Rachel 2017:
Philip is an orphan. When he was younger, Ambrose took him in. Philip loved him like a father. Everyone said the boy needed a mother but the only women that were allowed to be around were the dogs.
Now Philip is grown up, has returned from school because the city’s clever talk doesn’t interest him. He likes it here, his home. But Ambrose falls ill. The doctor sends him off for the sunshine in Florence which is a city in Italy. After a few days, Ambrose writes to him about a widow lady, Rachel who is a very radiant lady, giving him company. Philip shares the letter with his godfather and his daughter, Louise whom he is living with.
Within a few days Ambrose wises up through a letter that he is to marry Rachel. Philip sits in a corner with a heavy face as if this is something going to bring sorrow in their life. Louise says happiness matters in a married life, if there is peace, nothing else necessary.
But Philip’s worry kind of becomes true when the third letter arrives. Ambrose is now very concerned about his health since he doesn’t believe anyone here, especially Reinaldi the snake. The present doctor is appointed by him. Conversely, Rachel is guarding him like a hawk so that he can’t write him letters. She has become a torment in his life.
Ambrose’s Death; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
Philip reaches Florence right away and gets to know Ambrose is dead. He gets furious, which causes him to hold Reinaldi’s collar. He timidly says Rachel left.
The cause of Ambrose’s death is a tumour on his head that affected the brain. Reinaldi is Rachel’s lawyer who shows around the monuments very generously but Philip doesn’t believe him at all. He knows had he been here, Ambrose would still be alive.
Ambrose has given the authority of his estate in England to Philip that he left when he came to Florence since Philip is the only person closest to him. Philip isn’t convinced that Ambrose has died normally. That Rachel killed him. He goes to a lawyer, tells him he doesn’t believe all the bullshit about his tumour in the head.
The lawyer says strictly and clearly there is no evidence in the death certificate saying what Philip believes. If Rachel wanted, she could easily sign her self made will using Ambrose’s weakness but she didn’t do it.
Philip’s invitation to Rachel; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
Rachel is in England and she will step into Ambrose’s house. Philip is planning to give her a messed up, cringeworthy room. Louise asks him if he wants her to stay and smiles imagining how historical it would be seeing these two confronting each other.
Philip tells Seecombe to tell her to wait until the master comes. When Philip meets her, he forgets all the grudge that he holds against her. He sits in front of her calmly and laughs with her. She permits him to smoke, he ignites the cigar although initially refuses.
Next day, they go to the church and have breakfast with personnels of the estate. Everybody seems to love her but she thinks she would have to leave soon whenever everyone would get bored of her. She will be forced to give Italian lessons to the bored wives of the gentry.
Suddenly, Philip states the widow will remarry as fast as they can otherwise they pawn their wedding rings. Rachel feels insulted and leaves. Philip goes to the lawyer to expiate, giving her a great amount of money as allowance.
Rachel is making Italian tea while Philip is keeping the ‘money offering’ note on her desk. Italian tea, ‘Tisana’ is made from different herbs which is very salubrious to drink but doesn’t seem so tasty to Philip. Rachel laughs seeing funny expressions coming out from Philip.
A furious Rachel burst out into Philip’s room asking about how he dares to offer her money when he knows it is extremely humiliating for her. Philip doesn’t understand how it is humiliating and why. It seems like she has come for begging. She said about teaching Italian lessons, that was a joke. Even if it wasn’t a joke, there is nothing shameful in making your own way in the world.
Philip screams saying he doesn’t permit that. He is the owner of the estate so only those things happen that I permit. Having heard these boastful things, Rachel leaves upset. Philip can’t believe he hurt a woman like her. At night Philip goes to Rachel to apologise.
Rachel is crying and wising up she is accepting the allowance but not wanting to stay anymore. Philip never sees a woman cry before. His mom had died before he was born. He doesn’t know why she came here, all he knows is that he wants her to stay. The feeling towards Rachel is getting complicated.
Philip is very young and guileless. He doesn’t know why her staying will cause a lot of talk. To let him know she agrees to stay for a little while. Before Philip leaves the room, Rachel kisses his lip with a slight touch. It amazes Philip.
The Romantic Era; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
The next day, Philip seems to be a little tense and takes her to see a sick relative of hers and notices her treating him with her special tea ‘Tisana’. If she keeps helping people to get better with her tea ‘Tisana’, then she might get called ‘a witch’ in the near future.
Rachel notices Philip’s melancholic face and asks condition. He hands over the last letter of Ambrose where he addresses her ‘the torment’. She understands now how much he hated her. Returning home, Rachel takes out all the clothes of Ambrose and breaks down into tears. Philip embraces her tightly to console her.
Philip wants to surprise Rachel. He cuts tree to make her a beautiful home and wants to give her the finest piece of jewellery. He finds a pearl piece which nobody wore for twenty five years and chooses it for her.
‘Is that prudent?’
It might be mislaid so he must be careful before giving it someone that says Mr. Couch. Philip keeps the necklace on the desk and waits in the living room for Rachel standing next to him. When it happens, Rachel gives a passionate kiss. Philip and Rachel arrange a Christmas party where everyone of the estate enjoys the dinner and gets gifts from Rachel.
After the party, guests are waiting upstairs. Kendall stops Philip to inform that she overdrew her bank account(Overdraw means if you take such an amount of money that exceeds your cash). She has been sending money out of the country.
Philip thinks she spends money on gifting people from every family but Kendall doesn’t count on that estimation because the overdraft is heavy. Philip suggested to him to increase the allowance. Kendall understands he is completely blown away by his cousin but still he has to deliver the message.
Rachel’s first husband died to fight over one of her lovers. They were notorious for their limitless extravagance. Philip doesn’t believe that. Kendall wants the necklace because she can’t take that legally. At that time, Rachel comes and hands over the necklace to him. Philip gets so angry over Kendall and makes a plan.
The new turn; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
There is a will where it is written that by right Rachel is the owner of everything. But that will was never signed as she lost a child. With that child she lost everything; dignity and hope.
Philip comes to Mr. Couch to make a legal form where he wants to will the entire estate in Rachel’s name on his 25th birthday. Returning home he sees her with Reinaldi, her old friend. She spends late night gossiping with her Reinaldi. Philip sits down upset.
The next day, Philip gets his desired will that Mr. Couch has made. Master Ashley takes all the jewelleries from Mr. Couch. Philip takes the will to Kendall for the approval. Kendall asks if he quite determined on this course and gets positive reply.
Kendall reminds him if she remarries then he will lose everything but Philip believes it is unlikely.
Philip’s 25th Birthday: My Cousin Rachel 2017:
At night he enters Rachel’s room and outpours the jewelleries on the bed. He embellishes her with the expensive one. Once Rachel said he lacks only one thing, now he understands what he lacks. This is high time to lose his virginity. Rachel and Philip embrace each other and lose in the darkness.
The next morning, Philip doesn’t find his carriage after his sea bath. When Rachel returns from Kendall after assuring the will, they have sex in the lavender field. This time, Rachel seems unwilling to intimacy. Rachel gets up and gives him a pearl pin.
At night, Rachel prepares a special ‘birthday brew’ for Philip that causes him dizziness. He starts to hallucinate but he controls his discomfort and proposes to Rachel in front of everyone. Rachel feels so ashamed that she leaves the room right away.
Philip asks if she is ashamed because she doesn’t love him. Rachel gets surprised knowing that Philip has taken this matter this far where she never loved him. She permitted him to get intimate with her because she wanted to thank him for everything he did for her. It was just a part of gratitude. Rachel says,
‘Did you think you had bought me?’
Philip is gonna force her to kiss him but she rejects him and the jewellery she is wearing, torns apart.
The Ending Explained; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
Philip meets Louise. She expresses her concerns for Philip. Philip tells she knows nothing about her. Louise asks if it is him who knows nothing about her. Philip asks her for marriage but she rejects him. Louise wises up Rachel wasted no time to meet them when she got the will and she understood the will pretty damn well when she left.
Louise’s father Kendall said to her the marriage clause will revert her property to him. That’s why she rejects him. She is greedy and doesn’t care for love. Louise falls ill after that. Rachel nurses him with her Italian recipe. She knows different kinds of Tisana for different diseases.
Taking her Tisana regularly, he falls ill severely. He notices every morning she goes somewhere. He plans to follow her. One day, he finds out a note, kept in a book that says,
‘She is going through all the money like water, grasping, greedy for everything, but clever too, cunning. It’s a disease. She can’t help herself. She will take every single penny. She will ruin me. She will ruin us. She will ruin everything.’
He follows her and finds out she is meeting Reinaldi and kissing him. He asks her about him, she replies she needs advice. Philip tells her to send him away and is about to attack her but she takes a stick to defend her. Suddenly she starts to cry and says she has been tired of being executed by others. She wants her own life.
Plot Twist; My Cousin Rachel 2017:
Philip distributes Ambrose’s clothes to the villagers and one day a man gives him a note, found in the coat pocket. That says,
‘You are the only person in the world I can trust. Drop everything. Come out to me. Only come straight away. I fear for my life. The headaches, the sickness, the fever. Suddenly I understand the bitter potions, poisoning me. All this time, she has been poisoning me.’
One morning, the important people of the estate are having Tisana sitting together. Philip avoids the drink. Rachel wants someone to come with her as she is going for a ride. But Philip rejects her saying Louise and he have some important issues to do.
Rachel leaves alone. In the meantime, Louise and he search the whole room to find evidence to prove the truth. They get a note from Mr. Couch and the lawyer which says,
‘Thank you for returning the jewels. These will stay with us until your heir, Philip Ashley, may take possession of them.’
Philip gets confused knowing that she is returning the jewels. That means she is not greedy. Then he searches again to find something that will prove she is not guilty. He finds another note where it says Reinaldi suggesting her to marry Philip and Reinaldi is gay.
Knowing it, he runs towards the cliff side to search for her as he suggests to her to take the cliff path so that she falls into an accident and his wish is fulfilled. After the tragedy, he marries Louise and becomes father. But still confused thinking if Rachel is guilty or not.
Was Rachel guilty in My Cousin Rachel 2017?
Rachel was guilty of greediness. The moment she got the will she left to confirm it and decided to remain a widow. She was sending money outside England.
She returns the jewels because doing it she can keep the important people in hand. They will support her whenever she is in trouble.
She even wanted to kill Philip but she sensed Philip was suspecting her Tisana and at the same time, she fell in love with Philip. That’s why she cannot leave him behind.
Vocabulary:
Cut-throat:
Competing in an unfair way.
Out and about:
Doing the things you usually do.
Pernickety:
Fastidious.
Spinster:
The girls who never marry.
