Skip to content

NEW LIFE

Written By:

Joel Harley
New Life

The Fugitive gets a makeover for our COVID age in this slow-burn thriller by director John Rosman. However, where the 1993 classic was all Richard Kimble’s film (not that we wouldn’t have liked to have seen more of Tommy Lee Jones), New Life is a little more concerned with chaser than chasee. Here, Sonya Walger plays fixer Elsa – tasked with tracking down mysterious fugitive Jessica Murdock (Hayley Erin) before the clock runs out.

Grappling with the onset of degenerative condition ALS, Elisa is racing against the clock in more than one way – as the stakes rise to apocalyptic proportions, the fixer must also battle with her own body to get the job done. Walger delivers a commanding performance as one of the film’s two leads, giving both steely determination and frustration at her predicament. In the other half of the narrative, Erin gets to run the gamut through Fugitive and Stephen King tropes – including the obligatory sequence in which she takes shelter with a kindly old couple, potentially dooming them with her presence.

Rosman is in no rush to reach the final destination (the States-Canada border, gorgeously shot by cinematographer Mark Evans). The pressure and stakes are slowly cranked up as Elsa realises what is really going on here. But, as grisly as the journey gets (and, once the shoe drops, it gets very grisly indeed), the writer/director never loses sight of what matters – a two-hander character piece, impeccably written and acted.

NEW LIFE is released on digital platforms from June 3rd. 

stars

You May Also Like...

See Felicia Day’s The Guild The Musical Live!

2007 Cult smash web series The Guild has been adapted into a musical by the show’s creator, Felicia Day.  A live staged reading of this new show will be streamed
Read More
Critical Role Matt Mercer

Critical Role Campaign 3 Concludes

Critical Role’s third campaign, Bells Hells, will conclude on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at 7 PM PT.  (That means it starts at 3:00 AM in the UK, though there’s a
Read More

Cult Theatre Team Gigglemug Returns For 2025

Gigglemug, the theatre group behind cult musicals such as Timpsons! and RuneSical – The RuneScape Musical (which we really liked), have announced their tour plans for 2025. The tour will
Read More
jonathan bailey and scarlett johansson in trailer for jurassic world rebirth

JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH Trailer Promises Exciting Return To Roots

Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey face off against dinosaurs in the promising first trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth. This action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth,
Read More
still from teaser trailer for the fantastic four: first steps

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Drops First Teaser Trailer

The first trailer for the Fantastic Four’s highly-anticipated MCU debut, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, teases a 60s-inspired retro-futuristic world in which Marvel’s First Family must defend Earth from a ravenous space god
Read More

Bruce Campbell Heaps Praise on FAILURE!

The iconic Bruce Campbell has come out with praise for Failure!, a one-shot film that wowed FrightFest fans in 2023. Starring Ted Raimi, brother and frequent collaborator of The Evil
Read More