TIFF Review: Rebel Wilson’s ‘The Deb’ explores timeless tale of sisterhood and self-discovery in rural Australia

This Australian country movie is an ancient tale of balancing yin and yang energy to grow into a young woman. 

This article contains spoilers for the movie Deb.

Rebel Wilson’s The Deb follows two female protagonists, Taylah (Natalie Abbott) and Maeve (Charlotte MacInne). Set in a small town in rural Australia, Wilson’s film is about a classic debutante ball that all of the high school juniors and seniors and the rest of the town of Dunburn make the event of the year. 

The  film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the audience was beyond thrilled that The Deb wasn’t cancelled due to mistreatment towards the lead actress and embezzlement from the film’s producers. 

The movie has a musical feel, but more Footloose than Disney vibes. All of the actresses showed out with their dance moves and singing abilities, some of them never being featured in big screen films before. 

City girl Maeve is punished for throwing a feminist rally, so she’s sent to go to her cousin Taylah’s house in the middle of nowhere to learn how to humble herself. With modern views, she’s appalled by a town being hyper fixated on dressing up girls in gowns, ballroom dancing, and traditional gender stereotypes that pervade all over Dunburn. 

Meanwhile, Taylah has grown up wishing that she could be the prettiest girl with a sweet boy who could make her feel like a princess on the special day of the ball. 

The characters have such different personalities, creating an  entertaining scenario for the audience to view.. What I found to be a consistent theme between them is that they were mirrors of each other with characteristics they both envied about each other, but too afraid to adopt for themselves. 

Although Maeve was disgusted to take part in the Deb, she still wanted to help her cousin Taylah get a date. Likewise, Taylah wanted to help Maeve feel comfortable in Dunburn. 

Being a social media influencer, Maeve had the grand idea of doing an investigative podcast on the entire event, secretly capturing bits of Taylah’s life and eventually the other characters in the movie. This was one of my favourite elements of the film because it had the “story in a story” effect and made the audience care about what was going to happen next. 

Throughout the movie and her podcasting journey, Maeve finds out Taylah is known as the town’s laughing stock, despite her dad being the mayor. I thought it was admirable of Taylah that she didn’t feel jealous of her skinnier and prettier city girl cousin and just felt grateful she had a friend who loved her for her. 

Eventually, Maeve meets a guy who likes her feisty attitude. They had a few moments that made me giddy inside, including once scene when he grinned at her and Maeve, in an independent young woman fashion, walked away from him only to get electrocuted by an electric fence in a bull ring. 

The movie is centred around their developing sisterhood, but also balancing their individuality and who they truly want to be without shame or the opinion of a small town or big city telling them who they can or can’t be. 

As I watched The Deb, I started to realize the layers in the movie ran deep. I also loved the fact that many of the main characters were thicker and physically diverse than the ones typically seen in a movie like this. 

Naturally, the film has a classic mean girl bully character named Annabelle who despises Taylah and makes fun of her every chance she gets, calling her all kinds of fatphobic names and humiliates her in front of any potential dates for the debutante ball. 

Some of the largest turning points were with the bully, who’s mom is played by Rebel Wilson herself, Taylah, and Maeve. 

There’s a house party right before the ball, and Annabelle reveals she has a crush on Maeve. Not dealing with rejection well, she pushes Meave, who pushes her back only for her to be knocked on the floor unconscious. 

While Maeve is dealing with the aftermath, Taylah is in another room getting humiliated by a group of boys after one snapped a picture of her topless in the bathroom. 

This was one of those “yes! Girl power” moments because Maeve immediately was looking for Taylah after everyone blamed her for beating down the bully, who also happened to be the town’s most popular girl. 

At the same time, Taylah felt like Maeve left her all alone. This was one of the moments in the movie that felt all too real, a moment akin to female friendships and sisterhood. It set off the rest of the movie into a downward spiral, where Taylah’s intense emotions of feeling betrayed made her feel like Maeve’s podcast wasn’t a good cause after all. 

I enjoyed how there were moments like these all throughout the movie that actually felt real, despite the setting and context. 

The rest of the movie, Taylah and Maeve almost switch positions, where Maeve is the outcast for being the person to destroy The Deb through her overcritical podcast and for ruining Dunburn’s spirit. 

Throughout that period of turmoil, I appreciated watching Taylah and Maeve develop independently. It symbolized that despite their hatred for each other, they still wanted each other in their lives. That’s why when they were apart they still grew together because they were focused on healing. 

Although The Deb is more than a love story of friends, teenage boy drama, and an outdated ball in a country town, it’s a relatable film about growing up and balancing the many different parts of yourself as a young woman. 

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