New Life writer-director John Rosman on this year’s most surprising horror-thriller

One of the greatest things about film festivals is that they allow viewers to see films in the purest state. There are often no trailers or marketing materials yet — you are generally given a still photo and a brief write-up in the festival program, and that’s it.

That was the experience with writer-director John Rosman‘s New Life when it premiered at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival this past July. A character-driven thriller imbued with striking horror elements, New Life boasts a midway reveal that completely changes the context of the film and forces viewers to re-evaluate their allegiances towards the two main characters.

As unexpected and revealing as the twist is, it does make it difficult to discuss the film without spoiling the surprise.

“I think the movie works best if you go in completely blind,” admits Rosman following the film’s premiere at Fantasia. “I’d want people to come in pretty cold, not really knowing too much. But at the same time, we consume so much content on a daily basis, I feel like I’ve watched previews and then totally forgotten [everything]. I’m just excited that people will watch it in some capacity. I’m not trying to be too precious about it. But I do think I think it’s fun coming in cold.”

New Life follows two characters on seemingly divergent paths, whose fates end up colliding in an explosive way. The film opens with Jessica (Hayley Erin), a young woman with blood on her hands (literally). She is being chased by men in suits, and is on her way to Canada to escape from what we assume is a very troubled past.

Meanwhile, we meet Elsa (Sonya Walger), a resourceful agent in hot pursuit of Jessica. Struggling with onset ALS, Elsa is struggling to remain in control of her own body while doggedly hunting down Jessica for reasons the film ultimately reveals in its latter half.

The film incorporates Elsa’s ALS in a meaningful way, portraying her day-to-day struggles with the disease as it begins to affect her movements, all while she continues her dangerous quest to capture Jessica. The straight-forward portrayal of the disease dates back to Rosman’s earlier career as a journalist, and an impactful encounter he had with a young woman with ALS for a news piece.

“When I was a journalist, I worked on a story with a team, and we interviewed a woman who was my age with ALS,” explains Rosman. “And by then she was in a wheelchair, and she was using a sight machine where her eyes would fixate on a point, which is how she would communicate. She had written a memoir, which is why we were talking to her, and she just had this radical sense of optimism and hope. Some of the things she was grateful for, really, were profound, and obviously really stayed with me.”

“I think when you’re faced with something so big and profound, you do learn things about the human condition that unique and rare and that they know that I do not,” continues Rosman. “There’s something really inspiring about that.”

Without delving into spoiler territory, the characters of Elsa and Jess mirror each other in many ways on their respective journeys, leading to their eventual explosive collision. Rosman expertly plays with audience expectations along the way, and your allegiance to one character at the onset of the film may switch in the final moments.

“Both of them just had a bad roll the dice,” says Rosman of the two central characters. “They’re both trying to move through the world and come to terms with this at certain points in the narrative. And then at the end of the film, all the cards are on the table, and what choice do they make at that point? And there isn’t really a right answer, honestly. But I thought that was a really interesting way to explore it.”

New Life is available on VOD now.