New Life (I) (2023) User Reviews

Idea is better than the execution.

[Philinterr_pted · 5/10 · 3 May 2024]

A mix of The Fugitive with 28 days later. But if everyone was idiotic. I didn't care about any of them.

Great premise but at less than 90 minutes it's too short for any of it to have any real impact. A lot of unearned attempts at emotional moments.

The "twist" is less of a surprise and more just expanding on what you already are able to understand.

There's a secondary story with Sonya Walger that is supposed to add depth to her character but it just comes of as superfluous. There's no impact to the story other than making the reason why's she's picked for this manhunt to be completely idiotic.

I typically don't want longer movies but this one could have used more time in the oven.

Catch it if you can.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 26 August 2023]

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.

Funny that all the bad reviews get flagged for spoilers.

[Henry7227 · 1/10 · 3 May 2024]

It is a horror that I watched it.

If you want to veg out and not think then this might be an ok movie. If you have problems with any plot holes, logic problems, or a movie making sense then you better skip this.

The cast is good. The acting is ok. They even have decent background music and sound effects which I think really makes a difference. The make up is ok which I guess is the biggest horror part of this movie besides the time I wasted watching it.

The storyline says "apocalyptic proportions." There is nothing apocalyptic about this. It is just a bad story.

It seems to be a rule that movies around 90 minutes or less are not good. This is under that 90 minutes. I guess that was good for saving my time. Skip the movie and find something else.

Watchable/Forgettable

[LordCommandar · 3/10 · 4 May 2024]

A somewhat flashback story of a young girl carrying a very contagious and deadly virus who doesn't realize that she is the host of a deadly contagion, escapes from the facility and a women who is also deteriorating with ALS, has been assigned to capture virus girl dead or alive. After (I call her virus girl) escapes, she runs into other people not knowingly infects them and they all end up becoming very ill and of course, everyone she infects dies horribly until she is caught by ALS lady. Yeah, it's really that small budget film cut and dry. It's a watchable film but also forgettable with nothing at all to write home about. Not a recommend but not a completely disappointing film if you decide to, after watching the trailer. The hyped up rated 10 reviews are not to be trusted on this one....promise.

Strong start that falls off into nothing

[stevelivesey-37183 · 4/10 · 4 May 2024]

New Life is a fairly low budget, medical thriller.

The set up is pretty good. The director lets us think that a young girl is on the the run, we don't know what from. We presume that an assassin/manhunter/detective is after her for nefarious reasons. So far so good.

The plot twists a little halfway through and the movie shows its true colours and then plays out to a rather silly conclusion.

Why was the hunter ill? Don't know. What was the point of her being ill in the first place? Don't know. Why were more resources not thrown at a serious threat to public health? Don't know. How did the dog get it? Don't know.

The more doesn't get explained the more the film loses credibility.

Tense

[Bhorton · 9/10 · 6 May 2024]

I was fortunate to see New Life at the Florida Film Festival in April 2024. At first glance I saw there were no "names" attached but I'm glad this didn't stop me from seeing it.

John Rosman has crafted a tense thriller with a tight script and solid performances from the entire cast. A bounty hunter with ALS is tracking an otherwise innocent disease vector in the American Northwest.

The acting is excellent much, much better than I was expecting.

Thanks to thoughtful editing this film moves quickly to its chilling conclusion.

Don't miss this one as it could be the sleeper hit of the year. Bar none.

New Life is amazing.

[jfecher-46151 · 9/10 · 9 April 2024]

New life was a shockingly good time! Caught a screening during panicfest and it was literally one of my favorite films at the fest! The "shocking reveal" halfway through made my jaw DROP. Parallel stories for both female leads was such a good move here. You really FELT the pain in both characters for different reasons. Filled with great performances, surprises, scares and heart- this film should not be missed! I got to experience a wonderful Q&A with the filmmakers and it was just an amazing experience!

Sonya Walger really really shines here.

Bravo John Rosman! What an intense, thrilling, harrowing experience.

Eye of the tiger

[kosmasp · 10/10 · 1 September 2023]

No pun intended - I will not delve or rather explain my reasoning for choosing this summary line! If you know the song and watch the movie, you might be able to guess where my head is at. Or rather the head of our main actress! No this is not a boxing film - other than that I would advice you not to read anything about the movie. Go in blind - watch it without any preconception of what this will be .. it is quite worth it! This may be a slow burner, but when it finally gets going, it hits you quite hard (again no pun intended).

That all being said, the actors are amazing in this - considering what they have to go through, the parallels, between our two main characters and where they end up ... and what that means .. if it even means anything ... is this an open ending we get? Or is it conclusive and I just read something into it? Well you'll be the judge, but really clever writing and superbly edited. You could argue the movie will be bit mean to you as a viewer ... but you can take it ... hopefully! And if you can, this will really hit a home run (finally not a boxing pun)

A potentially good movie with some interesting ideas

[artistwriter-54705 · 8/10 · 7 May 2024]

I rented this because the trailer made it look promising.

When you watch this movie you honestly cannot appreciate the message of the movie if you have never watched someone with debilitating health issues have to come to grips with their life unraveling. Without giving anything away, there is a piece of dialog coming from a character that in my mind has to be one of the most powerful bits of script I have seen in a very long time. With regards to life and living, and the feelings of suicide, these words are spoken by someone who most likely was not acting when they said them.

For that one moment of beauty and purity, I will forgive the rest of the things that I think were a little ridiculous, and or unrealistic.

Would I say this is a fantastic movie? No, but parts of it are. The dialog I mentioned, some of the effects work were just awesome. Was the acting spectacular? Compared to "Madame Web" this is "Citizen Kane" or "Casablanca". The acting was actually pretty decent and the dialog pretty good. Casting was I think a little unorthodox however... once you see things fall into place you will likely think they did a good job.

The locations were pretty non descript, and only at a couple points did I have to suspend my disbelief. Even then it was not too big of a thing.

I think that when it comes right down to it, it is actually one of the better movies I have seen this year as the film does move along pretty well and it has some layers to it.

Most important about this film, the underlying message of it, is to Live. Live at all costs and live on your own terms. That to me is a hell of a message in a time when so many movies are just merchandising delivery systems.

It was interesting...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 7 May 2024]

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 2023 movie "New Life" here in 2024, and of course I did so. Sure, I didn't even know what I was getting into here, aside from it being a horror or thriller that I hadn't even heard about. So writer and director John Rosman had every opportunity to impress and entertain me with this movie.

Oh boy, I wasn't exactly prepared for what writer John Rosman delivered here. The storyline in "New Life" was really a nice surprise, and I am very glad that I had the chance to sit down and watch this movie. It was a well-written script, narrative and storyline, and writer John Rosman really caught me off-guard here.

I genuinely enjoyed "New Life", but it sort of felt a bit incomplete. Perhaps a follow-up movie would bring more to the narrative, as "New Life" felt like it was only the beginning of something.

The acting performances in the movie were good, and they had some talented actors and actresses on the cast list. I wasn't familiar with the cast in the movie.

While "New Life" wasn't a movie that relied heavily on an abundance of special effects, I will say that the effects that were in the movie definitely helped bring the narrative to life, and also looked realistic.

While it might be somewhat of a niche movie, I think "New Life" is definitely a movie that is well-worth checking out, especially if you have an interest in both zombie movies and viral outbreak movies.

My rating of "New Life" lands on a six out of ten stars.

A solid 7 1/2, bumped up to 8 for a deliciously unexpected twist at the end!

[scribbleheart-78583 · 5/10 · 7 May 2024]

New Life is an impressive directorial debut for John Rosman, although the film sometimes strains our credibility and patience - not too unforgivable for a first-time big-time production. The performances are terrific, as is the pacing: everything comes together in under 90 minutes - a cinematic miracle these days! - to deliver a thrilling, often heartbreaking, emotionally rewarding body-horror thriller. The film takes a lot of risks but it soehow manages to stick the landing quite elegantly in its intimate look at mortality from two very distinct yet similar viewpoints. Unusual and thought-provoking, despite what some reductive reviewers have said. Very much worth your 90 minutes, but DO watch all the way to the end!