Frightfest 2023: ‘New Life’ Review
Stars: Sonya Walger, Hayley Erin, Tony Amendola | Written and Directed by John Rosman
New Life is a low-key ground-floor beginning of-the-apocalypse thriller. A character-driven piece of one woman’s fight to evade capture and another woman’s race to find her. Told from two very uniquely distinctive perspectives worlds apart yet not so different.
As a lover of the “end of the world” genre I’m always keen to see projects dealing with the beginnings of the event. Yes, sometimes times they can be snooze fests like Side Effects but when done right you get movies like Outbreak. You could also go full musical and give the world Anna and the Apocalypse (my favourite Xmas movie). Where does New Life fit in though?
We follow Jessie (Hayley Erin) who after a chance meeting with a pooch that has recently escaped the lab, she unknowingly contracts a rare string of the Ebola virus (turns out the dog was a bigger germ farm than that monkey from Outbreak – zing, nice Chasing Amy reference). Jessie is now on the run as people are chasing her but she is unaware exactly why.
Meanwhile, we meet Elsa, a very resourceful and determined organisation type who is tasked with finding and bringing Jessie in, preferably alive but not a deal breaker if dead.
Elsa is also struggling with her health as she suffers from ASL and is gradually deteriorating but it would seem only she is taking this world-ending scenario seriously. For Elsa it’s a race against time but for Jessie it’s a fight for survival.
One of the most impressive things about New Life is that this is director John Rosman’s debut feature and for the most part it’s perfect. A slow-burn thriller that never once feels like it’s stalling for time. The moments of what you would call horror are sparse, and used to maximum effect opting for the practical style which nails it on the ground-level realism.
Cast wise our two main leads Hayley Erin as Jessie and Sonya Walger as Elsa are both stellar. Being familiar with Walger from her days in Lost, I never had a doubt she would turn up and turn up she definitely did. Hayley Erin though is an actress I was less aware of but have to say she really carried her side of proceedings and then some. The slow burn and intrigue can only really stick the landing if you are on board with these women and care for their stories.
New Life is a great example of a first-time director knowing exactly what his vision is and putting together all the right people in all the right places to smash that vision out of the park!
***** 5/5
New Life screened as part of this year’s Frightfest London.
