The best sci-fi horror thriller you’ve never heard of has suddenly defeated a Pixar posse in their own streaming house

Independent cinema is having quite a moment in the wake of Anora‘s Oscar dominance, but those who make a point to chum up to the world of film know that indies are almost always having a moment. Granted, that moment tends to come by way of artistic satisfaction rather than monetary compensation, but I digress.

One of these moments was the small but mighty New Life, the John Rosman-penned-and-helmed horror thriller that wowed at the 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival before sneaking into theaters in May of the following year. Needless to say, it made far less of a splash than it deserved to make in cinemas, but in a remarkable turn of events, indie justice is being served at the hands of Hulu subscribers.

Per FlixPatrol, New Life has ascended to second place on the United States’ Hulu film charts at the time of writing, leapfrogging a quartet of mighty Pixar players in The Incredibles (sixth place), Finding Nemo (fifth place), Ratatouille (third place), and WALL-E (eighth place). It’s a new life, indeed.

The film stars Sonya Walger as Elsa Gray, a contract problem solver (yes, that kind of problem solver) who gets put on the trail of a mysterious young woman named Jessica Murdock (Hayley Erin). Dragging her ALS-ridden body across the Pacific Northwest in pursuit of Jessica, Elsa’s mission appears straightforward — if difficult — at first, but the audience soon bears witness to revelations that change the game entirely.

To speak candidly, New Life rivals the likes of Oppenheimer in the realm of technical achievement, give or take several tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment. As both scribe and director, Rosman exhibits remarkable wisdom over which cards need to be kept to New Life‘s chest, and which ones need to be played so as to advance the plot while keeping enough unknowns in play to keep the audience hooked. Together with the revelatory score from Mondo Boys, New Life is a masterclass of mechanical plotting prowess.

And that’s just the cake. The frosting of New Life‘s technical achievement is made up of utterly scrumptious practical effects — whose divulged details would risk too many spoilers — together with an innovative twist on its oft-trodded subject matter that Hollywood will probably end up stealing once enough time has passed. There will, however, always be a reason to bemoan Hollywood, and so this time should be spent celebrating New Life‘s streaming success.

The film’s birthright, the aforementioned Fantasia International Film Festival, is hosted every summer in Montréal, Québec, Canada, and plays host to a myriad of genre films ranging from sci-fi and fantasy to horror and many combinations of the three. The 2023 edition, which New Life debuted at, also played host to such horror gems as Talk To Me, Late Night with the Devil, and Red Rooms, the latter of which won the festival’s top jury prize.

Other prominent indies in the mix were Stéphan Castang’s Vincent Must Die, Where the Devil Roams by John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser, and Femme by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping. There, I just stocked your watchlist for free. Have fun!