John Rosman’s “New Life” (2024) is one of those films where the less you know about it, the better. So, to maintain its sense of the thrilling mystery, let’s stick to the summary available on the online database platforms. This thriller film follows a woman on the run for mysterious reasons. An official is assigned to go find her. While offering a cat-and-mouse chase between these two characters, the film unravels a secret with a potentially catastrophic impact. Hayley Erin plays the woman on the run, and Sonya Wagler plays the official who goes to find her. Besides them, it stars Ayanna Berkshire, Tony Amendola, Nick George, Blaine Palmer, and Jeb Berrier.
Spoilers Ahead
New Life (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
What is ‘New Life’ about?
Written and directed by John Rosman, “New Life” is an English-language horror-thriller film that primarily follows a woman on the run. A fixer is appointed to find her. As the film progresses, we learn more details about these characters and the reasons behind their worries.
What happens in ‘New Life’?
“New Life” follows a woman on the run for a mysterious reason. She has blood all over her face. While walking through a mostly empty town in the early morning, she stops at a house and uses a hidden key to open it. She cleans herself, takes out her engagement ring, and wears it. Then, she hears some officers walking in. So, she uses a window to escape. Then, she hides herself in a stranger’s car and reaches another stop in her journey. When he leaves the car for a minute, she steals his money & food and escapes into the woods.
The woman eats the food and follows the map for her further journey. While walking, she stumbles upon a ranch and tries to steal some food. But the ranch owner, Frank Lerner (Blaine Palmer), catches her red hand. He sees her injured eye and feels sorry for her. So, instead of handing her over to the authorities, he offers her food. Despite their kindness, she steals some things from their bathroom. Frank’s wife, Janie (Betty Lerner), insists on letting Frank drive her to her desired location. While talking with this woman, Frank learns that she spent her childhood on a farm.
Elsa’s Search
Frank drives the woman on the run toward the North. Eventually, she asks him to stop the car. She says she will walk the rest of the distance. Frank offers her a backpack filled with some food and other essentials. He warns her that other people won’t be as kind as he and his wife. Meanwhile, Raymond Reed (Tony Amendola) appoints Elsa Gray (Sony Walger) to find this woman, Jessica Murdock (Hayley Erin), despite being aware of Elsa’s ASL diagnosis. In the past, she had also contemplated ending her life. Her loved ones tried to make her look at the brighter side.
Why is Jessica Murdock on the run?
While camping out with her partner Ian (Nick George), Jessica caressed a dog in the wilderness. Ian warned her of possible infections. Still, Jessica worried for the dog and spent the night with it in her embrace. It led her to have a strange infection where she noticed red spots on her skin. At midnight, she heard Ian having trouble breathing and coughing. So, she woke up to check up on him. She noticed bigger bloody patches on his body and got worried. So, she immediately called an ambulance. But, the vehicle took them to a strange location and kept her locked in a room with a single light bulb.
Jessica wasn’t told the reasons behind her infection and the extent of its impact on her or Ian. She was kept in utter darkness with sporadically shared meals. So, she decided to escape this prison-like situation. She broke the bulb in her room and injured a masked officer with the broken glass. Then, while running out, she noticed Ian’s heavily scarred body in another cell. While trying to speak with Jessica, Ian died. That’s why Jessica went on the run from these unknown authorities who kept her in the dark about her condition.
Where does Jessica run to?
After leaving Frank’s ranch, Jessica enters a small town with her backpack. She walks into a local bar and meets Molly Presser (Ayanna Berkshire). Jessica requests her for some work. Molly notices Jessica’s black eye and assumes she is running away from someone. In the past, Molly ran away from her abusive partner. So, she empathizes with Jessica and offers her some work. Jessica doesn’t tell her anything specific about her situation. Still, Molly offers her to stay at her place as well.
Why was Elsa trying to find Jessica?
Raymond was part of an operation that involved the wild dog that Jessica found. The dog escaped their laboratory and infected the humans. It was part of a secret operation for a pharma branch of a tech conglomerate that worked in conjunction with the US government to facilitate the research behind a virus. Raymond says that the dog was never supposed to leave their secured lab. But it did and spread the virus. So, he now wants Elsa to find Jessica to eradicate the connection between the contracting tech conglomerate and the virus. Elsa is part of a bureaucratic mission to help the company save face.
New Life (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Does Elsa find Jessica Murdock?
A member of Reed’s team informs Elsa about Jessica’s present location. Based on this, Elsa reaches Janie and Frank’s ranch in a protective bodysuit. She walks inside but can’t find the couple. Eventually, she finds them both outside. They try to kill her. Elsa saves herself from their attacks and shoots them both. Then, her associate provides her intel on Jessica’s next visible location. He found Jessica having been to Molly’s bar. So, he got all the visitors already imprisoned. However, he couldn’t find Molly since she kept her location hidden to stay safe from her abusive ex. Jessica drives toward this town.
While Raymond’s crew members try to locate Molly, Elsa notices Jessica outside a local store. Elsa follows her. Soon after, Jessica realizes the danger and runs away. She heads to Molly’s house to find Moly horribly scarred, similar to Ian. Terrified by her, she rushes out of Molly’s room. But while saving herself, Jessica suffers. Until then, Jessica was an asymptomatic carrier of the dangerous virus. But, she notices the signs of the disease for the first time, be it the sudden hair fall or extreme scars. By then, Elsa learns about Molly’s location. So, she drives to Molly’s house and gets into her protective suit. She follows a trail to find Jessica.
What happens to Elsa in the end?
Elsa finds Jessica at Molly’s house and holds her at gunpoint. But Jessica starts running away to save herself. However, due to her condition, Elsa cannot run. Jessica pleads for her life and refuses to go back. Elsa notes that there’s no point in Jessica running away since Ian, Molly, and the Lerners are all dead due to the infection. Jessica says that she never wanted things to turn out the way they did. Since Jessica continues to run, Elsa sees no other option but to shoot her. So, Jessica dies near Molly’s house. After her death, Elsa holds her with her gloved hand.
Later, Elsa’s well-wisher arrives at her house to check on her present state. He wants her to stay faithful and live a good life despite her ASL. Suddenly, he starts coughing in front of her. Seeing that, Elsa realizes that she has turned into an asymptomatic spreader of the virus. While trying to help the conglomerate save face, Elsa gets infected with the virus.
