birth/rebirth (Night Shift)
Key Cast: A. J. Lister, Breeda Wool, Judy Reyes, Marin Ireland
Director: Laura Moss
Producer: Mali Elfman
Screenwriter: Brendan J. O'Brien, Laura Moss
Cinematographer: Chananun Chotrungroj
Composer: Ariel Marx
In this modern reimagining of Frankenstein, the give-and-take of motherhood is tested through a collision of grief, creation and horror.
Clinical in both career and nature, morgue technician Dr Rose Casper is fascinated with the dead, and with bringing them back to life. For years, she’s toyed with reanimation, and is eventually given a chance to continue her experiment following the sudden death of six-year-old Lila – unbeknown to the child’s mother, Celie. Soon, the weight of Celie’s sadness and the prospect of her daughter’s return trigger an unlikely bond between the two women, who venture into questionable morals to keep Lila ‘alive’.
Following a series of accomplished shorts – including MIFF 2017 Grand Prix winner Fry Day – Laura Moss found inspiration for their first feature in the 1818 classic by Mary Shelley, who suffered multiple miscarriages. Moss and co-writer Brendan J. O’Brien not only channelled this sense of loss but also, alongside leads Marin Ireland and Judy Reyes, worked with a Stanford pathologist to ensure medical scenes were realistic, while the eerie soundscape of foetal monitors and sonograms come by way of sound designer Doug Moss (the director’s brother). birth/rebirth is an unconventional story of despair and motherhood, and a salve for those who seek solace in the macabre.
“A chilling Frankenstein for the post–Roe v. Wade era … birth/rebirth is a uniquely thrilling vision of horror, and Moss is a director to watch.” – Mashable