When Jessie (Hayley Erin) befriends a stray dog that, unbeknownst to her, has escaped from a laboratory, she becomes an asymptomatic carrier of a deadly ebola-like virus and goes on the run from the authorities. 'Fixer' Elsa (Sonya Walger) is hired to track down the girl before the contagion can spread, but finds that her increasingly debilitating medical condition, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), hinders her progress.
I attended one day at Frightfest 2023 in Leicester Square, my ticket for the main screen on the Friday. It says a lot about the overall quality of the films screened that day that this one was far and away the best (not including the closing film, That's A Wrap, which I had to miss in order to get home). New Life is by no means a brilliantly original film, tackling a subject that has been done many times before, and it is extremely low-key, but it was entertaining from start to finish, with engaging performances and solid writing and direction from first-time film-maker John Rosman.
Rosman takes a different approach to the familiar subject matter, New Life more of a character-driven piece than an out-and-out horror movie (although there are still a few scenes of yuckiness), and while, on the face of it, the film is a fairly depressing tale in which 'carrier' Jessie unknowingly infects anyone kind enough to help her and ultimately has no chance of a happy outcome, it actually carries a surprisingly life-affirming message, Elsa ultimately learning from her quarry to appreciate what time she has left.
I attended one day at Frightfest 2023 in Leicester Square, my ticket for the main screen on the Friday. It says a lot about the overall quality of the films screened that day that this one was far and away the best (not including the closing film, That's A Wrap, which I had to miss in order to get home). New Life is by no means a brilliantly original film, tackling a subject that has been done many times before, and it is extremely low-key, but it was entertaining from start to finish, with engaging performances and solid writing and direction from first-time film-maker John Rosman.
Rosman takes a different approach to the familiar subject matter, New Life more of a character-driven piece than an out-and-out horror movie (although there are still a few scenes of yuckiness), and while, on the face of it, the film is a fairly depressing tale in which 'carrier' Jessie unknowingly infects anyone kind enough to help her and ultimately has no chance of a happy outcome, it actually carries a surprisingly life-affirming message, Elsa ultimately learning from her quarry to appreciate what time she has left.