New Life is a stark, barren, cold thriller/horror film about a woman on the run and an agent sent to capture her before its too late. It hides what’s “really going on” so I’ll be vague too… though it has a biological body horror element to it… if that’s not too spoilery.

It’s a pretty low budget film that gets away with a lot of cold, wide-open landscapes to give it a more austere look. It’s the location shooting that boosts the film’s production value compared to going with more traditional locations and sets. The flick also has great practical gory makeup effects above and beyond the usual low budget fair.

It’s a pretty short film that doesn’t have a lot of time to spend on its fugitive or chaser… but the circumstances are enough to make me feel compassion for both characters. But we don’t really get much in the way of meaningful conversations or character growth.

The horror elements are pretty good… though the overall tone is slower and more anxiety-driven than scary. But it has some good pop-off scary sequences too… though I wouldn’t go into the film expecting a traditional horror.

It also has a fairly non-linear story with them hiding the truth of the investigation until the half-way point. This pacing and the mystery might turn some folk off, waiting for it to get to the point. but they do get there and I was hooked once things started to become more clear.

I liked this film… it grew on me. At first it felt a little too slow and somber but that mood started to crawl up my spine. It’s a good looking, well acted mystery/thriller/horror hybrid. Maybe not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

Score: 81