Fantasia International Film Festival 2023 – For better or worse, we’ll likely continue to see a wave of pandemic-based horror films as a response to our collective experience of living through COVID. New Life is a character-driven feature following two women whose paths are set to collide. At the halfway point, the movie includes some gnarly and impressive body horror as a mysterious virus spreads. However, it takes a while for the icky moments to arrive.

Written and directed by John Rosman, the feature stars Hayley Erin as Jessica. During the opening minutes, she’s on the run, with a black eye and blood splattered all over her face. It’s eventually revealed why she’s fleeing. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to her, she’s carrying the virus but is asymptomatic after she and her partner, Ian (Nick George), came in contact with a stray dog. Everyone Jessica then comes in contact with faces a prolonged and painful death. The special effects during these points are especially impressive and make for some stomach-churning body horror. The film takes its times sharing details about Jessica and the other lead, Elsa (Sonya Walger), a fixer hired by a mysterious organization to find Jessica ASAP before the virus spreads. It is revealed early on, however, that Elsa has ALS, and thus, the film examines life and death beyond a viral disease.

While Walger is a familiar name to many, after her role as Penny on Lost, Erin has some knock-out moments. There’s one sequence in particular, past the halfway point, where she battles a friend infected with the virus, that’s absolutely scene-stealing. It’s bloody and gruesome, and Erin’s character reaches her physical and emotional limits. Walger turns in a steady performance as well, but I’m especially intrigued to see what Erin does next. Hopefully, she lands roles in other genre films and soon. Though she’s acted in various daytime soaps, including General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, she has the potential to be a horror breakout star.

In terms of narrative, New Life doesn’t follow a straightforward path. As stated already, it takes some time to explain the film’s gripping opening and various other narrative details are spread throughout the runtime, especially regarding Jessica’s life. Unfortunately, compared to Jessica, Elsa feels like too flat of a character. Her illness becomes her major storyline, but there’s not a lot of weight and substance given to her beyond that. Further, though the film is under 90 minutes, its runtime drags, especially in the first half.

Overall, New Life struggles to break out from all of the pandemic-inspired horror that we’ve seen over these last three years. Still, it has some truly unnerving and gross moments, thoughtful reflections on mortality, and a heck of a performance by Erin that makes the ending all the more impactful. This is Rosman’s first feature, and there are far more positives here than negatives. I look forward to seeing what he does next.

7 out of 10