[Film Review] FrightFest: New Life (2023)

This article contains mild spoilers for New Life.

When thinking of the term ‘body horror’, numerous tropes spring to mind; writhing tentacles, monstrous mutations or Cronenbergian abominations. But in its purest terms, body horror can simply mean the horror of having a body. Specifically, a body that can so easily turn on its owner and self-destruct, a body that acts as both jailer and prisoner, a time bomb ticking relentlessly towards an inevitable end while the mind is helpless to sit back and watch. John Rosman’s New Life takes this distillation of the subgenre to create an impressive, emotionally-charged debut that weaves together veins of horror and drama to create a unique take on a well-trod path, one that will leave its audience both moved and uncomfortably in touch with their own mortality.

First establishing itself as a mysterious thriller, New Life opens on a young woman, Jess (General Hospital’s Hayley Erin in her feature film debut), who is on the run following some unknown, bloody incident. Hot on her tail is Elsa (Lost’s Sonya Walher), a tough and strong-willed agent who is grappling with a recent life-changing diagnosis of the neurogenerative disease ALS. As the pair’s paths start to converge across the bleak and beautiful mountains of the Pacific Northwest, Elsa must push her ailing body to its absolute limits in order to catch Jess, who is unaware that her fugitive status comes with apocalyptic stakes. 

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If possible, audiences should seek to go in as blind as possible to New Life, as around halfway through its runtime, the true nature of Elsa’s pursuit is revealed and, after subtly sowing the seeds throughout, the film reveals its true horror leanings. However, those who like their horror fast-paced and bloody might find their patience flagging by this point, and arguably a few non-essential character scenes could have been cut to bring the reveal forward and up the ante. At its heart though, New Life is more interested in its human side more than its horror, anchored by two heartbreaking performances from Erin and Walger, as two women who know their days are numbered. 

While both give similarly devastating performances, Walger especially shines as Elsa, facing her ALS diagnosis and the loss of physical agency that comes with it. Walger plays the necessary physicality with palpable sensitivity, and it’s clear that Rosman has put time and effort into researching the debilitating disease whilst also uplifting the voices of those who suffer from it. Elsa’s ALS does slow her down and cause her pain, but she never lets it fully overcome her. Nor does she pretend to be a pinnacle of unmovable strength in the face of tragedy – during one particularly moving scene, the topic of suicide is broached with matter-of-fact sincerity.

New Life’s emotional climax could’ve benefitted from a touch more development when it comes to Elsa and Jessica’s relationship. As a parallel of each other’s tragic situation, the pair’s inevitable meeting would’ve held even more weight had we been privy to even a couple more scenes of the pair interacting. As it stands, however, New Life is still a genuinely tender, almost unbearably human scream to the sky of acceptance, rage and hope in the face of terrifying odds, and truly cements Rosman as one to watch.

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