After Shudder's surprise at Skinamarink , Laura Moss 's Birth/ Rebirth horror is unmatched, this time with a surprising but slightly underdeveloped imagination that transcends the genre's usual tropes. Inspired by Mary Shelley's 19th-20th century novel Frankenstein , the film revolves around a post- modern Prometheus; By making the central scientist male instead of female, Moss's character's debut goes beyond the usual obvious cliché to take on the mad scientist. Nature and in turn David Cronenberg's 80s era focus on human anatomy entered the fight against immorality.
Of all Cronenberg's body horrors, the touchstone here seems to be 1988's The Dead Ranger , the director's somewhat complex and violent film with a sense of duplicity in the story of identical evil twin midwives. Moss explores the same concepts of yin and yang here, starting with Rose (Marin Ireland), an eccentric and socially awkward pathologist who assumes her personal life is failing by evicting random strangers in public toilets and saving her sperm. For an obvious bad reason. On the other hand is Celie (Judy Reyes), a sunny and loving nurse mother devoted to her 6-year-old daughter Leela.
Their paths don't seem to cross, they each live in a dark world and a hospital light, but they meet after Leela is diagnosed with meningitis. Leela is pronounced dead before Celine arrives at the ER, but her mother's intuition kicks in. Exact details are sketchy and Leela's body is missing. Celie follows Rose and makes a shocking discovery. Leela isn't dead at all, she's alive and in a coma in Rose's apartment, aborted by a human embryo-based serum (which explains what Rose is doing, y'all). did):
This may sound like a huge spoiler, but Birth/Rebirth has just begun , and the film's success will depend on your willingness to express disbelief. Moss's film veers away from the typical gothic bombast of medical horror films and instead becomes a twisted sidekick as he moves in with Sally Rose. Celie plays maid, stocking Rose's refrigerator and looting medical supplies on an industrial scale while Rose works on her serum and discovers the source of her obsession with rehabilitation after amputating a starfish's leg as a child. But when Rose's health deteriorates and she can't bear the right fruit, the two women are forced to find new mates and rely on a pregnant woman, not to mention additional dependency, as a local woman faints. in their claws
The film's complete defiance of genre conventions is admirable, but sometimes self-defeating, and some of its casual take-overs jump into territory. Likewise, any hidden monkey-like warning about the morality of messing with God's plan; Scenes where Leela is slapped by a repulsed character and her dangerously deviant behavior quickly evaporate. In this sense, the final part of the film's three acts is the most satisfying, when Celie abandons the conspiracy and actively participates in Rose's mad scheme. Some of the film's first ideas about nature, food and science are raised, not to mention the terrifying vulnerability of expectant parents.
Midnight Thread at Sundance is a broad church and, in many ways, part of the film's appeal, meaning its engagement with the genre's comfortable tropes can be imagined and reassured that a Twilight Zone twist isn't in store for us. Kona Both leads defy conventional casting, adding a layer of realism that keeps things moving when the plot gets silly. However, these days, you feel like Birth/Rebirth could be a cute little TV movie from hell, and if there's only one lesson to be learned here, it's "don't leave me, mad scientist princess" but they're great when you try. You are not always helpful in front of women
