Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (or, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus for purists) has been retold countless times in the 100+ years since its original publication, with many creators sticking to the tried and true formula and a select few opting instead to give the story a new spin. That’s just what screenwriters Laura Moss and Brendan J. O’Brien aim to do in birth/rebirth, a look at the lives of two women in the medical field who come together to defy death after one of them endures an unspeakable tragedy.
After the sudden death of her 6-year-old daughter Lila (A.J. Lister), maternity nurse Celie (Judy Reyes, Smile) is overcome with grief until she crosses paths with pathologist Rose (Marin Ireland) a cold, calculated woman who is far more interested in the corpses she examines than the living people in her life. After discovering a secret Rose keeps in her apartment, the two women join forces in an attempt to bring Celie’s daughter back to life.
birth/rebirth offers a motherly twist on the Frankenstein tale, though Moss and O’Brien are much more interested in the mad scientists themselves than they are the eponymous creature, making birth/rebirth more of a dramatic character study than an outright horror film. Yes, it delves deeper into the genre’s tropes as it moves into its third act, but its focus on the relationship between these two women is what sets it apart from other versions of this oft-old tale. Similarly, it’s Celie’s emotional connection to the creature itself that adds a new wrinkle to the formula. birth/rebirth dares to ask the question: how far will a mother go to ensure her daughter’s survival?
It cannot be understated how vital Reyes and Ireland are to the success of birth/rebirth. Any shortcomings in Moss and O’Brien’s script are overcome by these two outstanding performances. Reyes, reliable ever since her days on Scrubs, is the emotional core of the film. She grounds the more outlandish elements of the plot, her grief and desperation palpable. But as great as Reyes is (and she is great), it’s Ireland who runs away with the film. Already having proven herself in recent horror offerings like The Dark and the Wicked and The Empty Man, birth/rebirth offers yet another display of her talents.
There’s a surprising amount of humor to be found in birth/rebirth, with Ireland’s deadpan delivery juxtaposed with Reyes’ emotionality providing many of the film’s laughs. Rose seems to be coded as neurodiverse, and birth/rebirth mines a lot of humor out of her interactions with the people around her. It’s a welcome reprieve from the doom and gloom of the proceedings, but thankfully the humor never undercuts the drama.
Despite the occasional burst of humor, don’t expect birth/rebirth to pull any punches when it comes to the grisliness of the premise. After opening with a particularly gruesome overhead shot of an autopsy, it gifts us with several disturbingly gory scenes over the course of its runtime that will make any person shudder (a shot of Rose pulling a placenta out of a pregnant corpse’s belly is particularly upsetting). Mothers beware: this is a rough watch.
birth/rebirth does overstay its welcome a bit, with Moss struggling to maintain narrative momentum as the film shifts further into genre territory. This is not to say the film’s gory offerings don’t satisfy, it’s just that the relationship between Rose and Celie is so captivating that you wish the film would just stick with them, rather than barrel toward its inevitable conclusion.
Despite all of that, birth/rebirth remains a success. It’s a solid feature directorial debut for Moss, but mostly stands as a stellar showcase for these two actresses. Keep this one on your radar, folks.
birth/rebirth had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and will stream on Shudder later this year.
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