‘Birth/Rebirth’ review [Sundance 2023]

Motherhood has long been a theme explored within the horror genre. Whilst films such as Psycho and Rosemary’s Baby have become classic examples both are told from a male perspective. Men telling maternal stories was normal for a number of years, but finally, during the last ten years, women have started to share their own perspective. It was the release of Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook that kickstarted the new trend. The female vantage enriched The Babadook’s story and presented an arguably more realistic representation of what it meant to be a mother. Since then a wave of new movies from female directors have sought to capture the maternal experience from womb to birth to upbringing. Sundance 2023 has several films exploring maternal themes and Laura Moss’ Birth/Rebirth is one of the strongest. 

Birth/Rebirth opens in a frenzy of lights and sound as a pregnant woman is rushed to hospital. Upon arrival the camera follows the journey of both the dying mother and thriving child whilst simultaneously introducing lead characters Celie (Judy Reyes) and Rose (Marin Ireland). Celie is an overworked maternity nurse and single mother, Rose a pathologist obsessively working on an experiment to reanimate the dead. Although both women work in the same hospital their professions focussed on the opposite ends of the journey of life keep them separated. The two become entangled though after the tragic death of Celie’s daughter Lila (A.J Lister), and their different outlooks on life collide as they work together to achieve a common goal. 

Although alluded to in the synopsis, and billed in many reviews as a riff on Frankenstein, Birth/Rebirth is far more than that. To draw this comparison is to diminish Birth/Rebirth’s potency. Though it may be set within the realm of reanimation, this is no typical Frankenstein story. For one, it is women who are seeking to create life. A cornerstone of Mary Shelley’s work, and many stories that have sought to replicate it, is that it is men trying to create life. The female angle distances Birth/Rebirth from the classic literary source and enables it to become its own equally bleak tale. 

Playing within this dark world are the fantastic duo of Reyes and Ireland. The two actors commit heart and soul to the piece and create authentic female characters. With neither woman overplaying their role, there is a strong sense of realism to the film. Reyes, better known as playing Carla on Scrubs, is exceptional as Celie. The warmer of the two, Celie is the character who draws the viewer into the story. Witnessing her heartbreak is gut-wrenching and her motivations, steered by grief, are easy to identify with. Before that though Celie also highlights the constant state of stress and exhaustion that most working mothers experience day to day. As Rose, Ireland connects with her inner clinical and fully communicates the character’s coldness, without ever venturing into ice queen status. Rose is a scientist through and through and her methodical nature offers a perfect counter to Celie. 

The two characters work beautifully together. Though not quite yin and yang, their  differences complement each other. As the story progresses the pair bond and in turn create a harmonious household. Rose and Celie’s ‘union’ demonstrates an alternate parental formation that works. This is just one of many ways in which Birth/Rebirth explores the concept of what it means to be a mother. Celie may be the biological mother, but with Rose also giving life, there is a murkiness to who owns the title.   

From the opening frenzy to the bitter conclusion Moss steeps the viewer in a heavy syrup of grief, melancholy and dread. There is so much darkness residing within the narrative that it becomes hard to breathe in places. Moss achieves this by never veering too far into mad science territory. Unlike maniacal Doctor Frankenstein who gleefully hacks people and parts together, Rose has a more measured approach to her work. She has been working on her project forever; the pathologist approaches her experiment from a structured cold and clinical direction. Her method is convincingly tangible but requires some questionable processes that will stimulate further discussion post viewing. The potential validity of the experiment makes the skin crawl and when mixed in with heavy ideas around life and death, make Birth/Rebirth is a thoroughly engaging, though emotionally draining viewing experience.

  

Birth/Rebirth was reviewed at Sundance Film Festival 2023.