Birth/Rebirth, 2023.
Directed by Laura Moss.
Starring Marin Ireland, Judy Reyes, A.J. Lister, Breeda Wool, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Grant Harrison, Richard Gallagher, Eric Yang, Lynden Miles Ley, Sarah Dacey-Charles, Rina Mejia, and LaChanze.
SYNOPSIS:
A morgue technician successfully reanimates the body of a little girl, but to keep her breathing, she will need to harvest biological materials from pregnant women. When the girl’s mother, a nurse, discovers her baby alive, they enter into a deal that forces them both down a dark path of no return.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Birth/Rebirth wouldn’t exist.
Dignity and motherhood don’t always line up. That is a spoken line of dialogue in Laura Moss’ deeply unsettling Birth/Rebirth, a debut horror feature that’s less about the reanimated body relentlessly being experimented on than the compelling juxtaposition of a self-acknowledged mad scientist Dr. Rose Casper (Marin Ireland), who has practically lost all dignity due to the morally vacuous nature of her treatments, and grieving mother Celie (Judy Reyes) who is increasingly becoming obsessed with doing anything, at any cost, to keep her deceased but reanimated young daughter Lila (A.J. Lister) on the right path to resembling her former, alive self. To further drive from that contrast, Rose works in the mortician section, whereas Celie helps brings life into the world as a maternity nurse.
Following a tragic babysitting accident that leaves Lila dead, Rose notices that the body (blood type and more) is the perfect match for the next step in her quest to regenerate life back from the dead (she currently has a pet pig that has been alive and making progress for several weeks now), going as far as stealing the body. Naturally, this sends Celie down a frustrated rabbit hole of how a medical wing physically lost her daughter, quickly bringing her right inside Rose’s front door, initially appalled and shocked that Lila is there and hooked up to a ventilator machine.
Now, if you’re beginning to wonder if Birth/Rebirth takes the demented Pet Sematary route where the reanimated essentially become pure evil, vessels for deception, and killers, this is not that kind of story. The terror here primarily comes from surgical body horror visuals (appropriately grotesquely captured by cinematographer Chananun Chotrungroj) and a nightmarish, queasy, disorienting score from Ariel Marx.
Every filmmaking aspect of Birth/Rebirth feels calibrated to make viewers feel repulsed and sick by these characters’ actions. Barring some mishaps here and there, the process is mostly working. Bearing that in mind, a much more twisted layer of horror comes from how far these characters will go to maintain access to serums and whatever else the body is required. You also absolutely do not want to know what those serums are made of until watching the film.
All three central performances are incredible, ranging from the compulsive Rose, who seemingly disregards all human life as nothing but fodder for scientific experimentation, to Celie, who gradually succumbs to that same selfishly deranged mindset. However, there are also gnarly makeup effects given to Lila, excellently played by A.J. Lister as half human and halfway there to understanding and interacting with others, but also feral and no different from the pig.
The acting, direction, and screenplay (co-written by Laura Moss alongside Brendan J. O’Brien) give this refreshing take on the twisted, familiar territory a raw, authentic human touch that prioritizes believably escalating these characters’ choices. With that said, there does seem to be a missing critical ingredient from Birth/Rebirth to elevate it into extraordinary territory. The story seems to be missing a true climax and ending, with Laura Moss taking the story to some logical places but rushing in certain areas. There is also the occasional corny revelation on how to fix a problem, alongside bits and pieces of Rose’s past that deserve more elaboration.
As a thematic piece, watching how someone bringing life into the world can become as morally and scientifically corrupted as someone whose life has constantly revolved around death is harrowing. There is no denying that Birth/Rebirth is effectively creepy and all kinds of thrillingly wrong, with a riveting ensemble and top-notch craftsmanship (the intoxicating score, in particular, is a highlight), but it feels more like a starting point for a bold new horror voice in Laura Moss before making something truly special.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
