- Directed by John Rosman
- Written by John Rosman
- Stars Sonya Walger, Rony Amendola, Hayley Erin
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fek2UlVH-qo
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was heavy on human drama and psychological thrills with some horror on the side. The direction, cast, and script are all very good. It wasn’t what we expected, but we still liked it.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on a bloody woman walking through a neighborhood alley. She goes into a house and washes off the blood. She goes through some drawers and changes clothes; she even finds a wedding ring. Is this even her house? Men with guns come in the front door as she climbs out the window. She’s Jessica, and she’s clearly on the run.
We cut to Elsa Gray, a woman who doesn’t look healthy. She takes her medication and gets a visit from Raymond. He’s a little pushy, but she goes along with it, making him coffee. He says that there’s a situation that’s gotten out of control, and he needs her help. “The subject is on the way to the border, and we can’t let her cross.”
We cut back to Jessica, who has a map and is hiding out in the woods. She comes to a farmhouse and sleeps in the barn. We flashback to her, locked in a cell in a very dirty old building.
Vince, one of Raymond’s security/hacker people, spots Jessica on a camera and reports her location to Elsa, who’s annoyed that her own hands are shaking.
The farmer invites Jessica inside for breakfast. Frank and Janie ask questions, and they seem nice, even though it’s obvious that she’s lying about her story to them. Frank decides to drive her where she wants to go and give her a bag of clothes and supplies. They go until the road ends, and he drops her off near more woods. We notice that he has a cough.
Elsa falls down; there’s definitely something wrong with her physically. She gets a call from Sal, who has Laura on the line, a woman who’s got ALS, the same disease Elsa has. Her prognosis is not good, and she knows it.
Jessica dreams about camping with Ian and a stray dog who gives them both fleas. Elsa talks to Vince on the phone, and we see a photo of Ian and the now-dead dog on the wall. Jessica stops into a bar and asks for a job from Molly, who points her to a mop.
Elsa gets a call about Frank and Janie. She goes in wearing a hazmat suit; she says that Jessica is carrying a special strain of ebola. When she gets there, Janie and Frank look– unlike ebola patients, more like zombies.
We flashback to Jessica and Ian. His “flea bites” are looking a whole lot worse, and he gets very sick. They take an ambulance to a place that’s very much not a hospital; men in hazmat suits kidnap her and lock her up.
Raymond admits the situation to Elsa. It’s not ebola; it’s a genetically engineered virus that the dog had. The dog escaped and infected Jessica and Ian. Ian died, and Jessica is a carrier now. Jessica doesn’t know any of this; she thinks she’s being chased for murder. Elsa says the scope of the search is way too small, and he says that this is all due to a sloppy pharmaceutical company that doesn’t want word to get out. She quits on the spot.
We cut back to Jessica in her cell, killing a guard to escape. This is why she was covered in blood in the opening scene. She sees Ian, who is a scab-covered mess.
Raymond knows all about Elsa’s ALS, and that’s why he hired her. He persuades her that she needs to work and not just retire and give up, and she gets back on the case.
Jessica wakes up with a hangover, but Molly wakes up with something a lot worse. Vince calls Elsa and says everyone at Molly’s bar has been detained. They don’t know where Molly lives, but they’re looking. Vince thinks there may be more to all this than a case of ebola, but Elsa doesn’t clue him in.
Elsa sees Jessica in town. Jessica walks away. Elsa has trouble keeping up and falls down. Jessica runs back to Molly’s house and sees what’s left of her friend before panicking. She starts packing her stuff and then hears Molly moving around upstairs. Molly’s dead, though, so what’s going on? Jessica goes back upstairs to look, and Molly’s become a full-on zombie. Afterward, Jessica finds that all her hair is falling out; that’s new.
Vince finally figures out where Molly lives and sends Elsa to investigate. Elsa finds Jessica but sees that Jessica is sick. Elsa ends up shooting her, but it doesn’t have much effect; Jessica runs away toward the Canadian mountains before Elsa shoots her again. Elsa holds her hand as she dies.
We get a montage of all the records of the whole incident being deleted. Elsa goes home and continues taking her medications. Sal comes over with brochures about living with ALS and holds Elsa’s hand. In the middle of their conversation, he starts coughing. Is it over or not?
Commentary
The trailers for this one are a little misleading; it’s not at all what we expected.
The name of the film is “New Life,” and everyone continually talks about starting over, second chances, and reinventing their lives, so the theme here is pretty obvious. The acting is excellent all around, and the situation is more or less realistic and believable.
It’s got a good story, but it’s almost an hour into the film before we really know what’s going on and why. The horror elements are somewhat minimal, with a couple of disease-ridden sick people and one or two somewhat mild zombie attacks. It’s more psychological than horrific, but it’s good either way.