NEW LIFE is a horror thriller with a dramatic edge, as it’s quite slow-burn. It’s essentially a virus thriller where we see the effects of the disease, and they’re looking mighty zombie-like. Someone mentions the word "Ebola," but clearly something else is going on.
Despite a very simple plot and a runtime of just 1 hour and 25 minutes, it’s a movie that packs a real punch. The strong cast and efficient storytelling deserve credit for this experience.
When we meet Jess in the opening scene, she’s already a woman on the run. We just don’t know why exactly, but then neither does she. All she knows is that someone is after her, so she’s desperate to cross the Canadian border to escape them.
On a solo mission to get closer to her than the clumsy men, who look straight out of Men in Black or something, is a woman. Her name is Elsa, and she’s quite a resourceful agent. When we meet her, we discover that she’s recently been given a life-altering diagnosis, which is catching up on her health. Fast!
Both Jess and Elsa end up in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, which is where Elsa discovers exactly how dangerous Jess is. Also, she finds out why she’s been given this extremely important mission. If she fails, it could cost millions of people their lives.
Also, it isn’t until the end of the movie that Jess finally discovers why she is being hunted down.
We’ve had our eyes on New Life for some time, as it has been playing at film festivals like FrightFest and Fantasia. In fact, it’s been quite the film festival, darling, which is almost always a sign that you have a real treat in store.
Now, we finally had the chance to watch it, and it’s easy to see why it’s been such a darling. Both to audiences and critics.
The story is strong in all its simplicity, so even if I found a few of the story coincidences a bit heavy-handed, it wasn’t so much that I wasn’t still completely enthralled.
Also, with Hayley Erin (The Young and the Restless, Pretty Little Liars) and the always wonderful Sonya Walger (For All Mankind, Lost) in the two lead roles, it’s a treat for all genre fans.
Watch New Life in Theaters or On Demand
This horror thriller is the directorial debut of John Rosman. It’s a critically acclaimed debut, and when you watch this movie, you’ll understand why. There’s a depth and intensity to it that work remarkably well.
John Rosman is the director and writer of New Life, so this is very much his brainchild. Now I’m just hoping he will continue working on genre movies so we can see more from this filmmaker. He even won the 2023 Audience Choice Award for Horror at the Heartland International Film Festival, which speaks volumes to me.
A movie like One Cut of the Dead also won audience awards at film festivals, and that’s why we watched it. If you’ve watched that particular movie, you’ll know it begins as such a weird experience that you want to give up on it. However, when I found out it was an Audience Award winner, I knew I was in safe hands. We ended up giving it a top rating!
For New Life, we didn’t quite reach that elusive top rating. Still, I can imagine future projects from John Rosman could get us there!
New Life is out in US theaters and on demand as of May 3, 2024. Also, it will be available in the UK on digital from June 3, 2024.
