A few days ago for the Lisa Frankenstein trailer, I mentioned the depth of female-led movies this year influenced by Mary Shelley’s horror classic. One I forgot to mention, and shame on me for that, is Birth/Rebirth. Laura Moss’s horror debuted at Sundance earlier this year with a lot of buzz, and after being acquired by Shudder is set to stream next week.
Two vastly underrated actresses, Marin Ireland (of the upcoming film Eileen) and Judy Reyes (Scrubs), lead this look at motherhood and monstrosity. Ireland plays a pathologist obsessed with bringing the dead back to life, while Reyes is a mother whose deceased daughter has been revived, but at a terrible cost. The two women go down a sinister path in order to keep the girl alive.
For Moss, this is their directing and co-writing debut, having co-written the script with Brendan J. O’Brien.
I remember hearing people rave about this film while in Park City, and I’m excited to get a chance to see it for myself.
Here’s the synopsis: Rose (Marin Ireland) is a pathologist who prefers working with corpses over social interaction. She also has an obsession — the reanimation of the dead. Celie (Judy Reyes) is a maternity nurse who has built her life around her bouncy, chatterbox six-year-old daughter, Lila (A.J. Lister). When one tragic night, Lila suddenly falls ill and dies, the two women’s worlds crash into each other. They embark on a dark path of no return where they will be forced to confront how far they are willing to go to protect what they hold most dear.
Birth/Rebirth streams on Shudder beginning November 10th.