Review of the film 'Reborn' (2018)

Reborn is a horror film about Tess, a sixteen-year-old girl with the ability to channel electricity. Deadborn from a mother that is giving her in adoption, her baby body is left at the morgue – but then she revives herself with sparks. Taken by morgue employee Ben, she is raised in secret for sixteen years until she decides to break free, learn the truth about her birth... and have her revenge.

The story follows the quest for truth from both sides: at the same time that Tess is looking for her mother, her mother Lena learns that her body is missing and is looking for her remains. Lena, an unemployed actress, makes her income from teaching acting lessons, which gives Tess the opportunity to show up and meet her mother as a student. Will she dare to reveal to Lena that she is her daughter?

Tess, much like Stephen King's Carrie, uses her ability to murder anyone that crosses her. Detective Marc Fox is assigned the electrocutions case. But most of the story is about Lena, her relation to her agent, her acting classes, her visits to the therapist and her quest to find the remains of her daughter. Those parts of the story slow down the pace of the film and make it lag.

The direction is not bad, but without brilliance. There's something to acknowledge though – most of the acting is OK, and that's a sign of a good acting direction. The sound is somewhat defective, making the dialogues unclear. Concerning the acting: Kayleigh Gilbert fails to develop her difficult, wicked character, Chaz Bono and Alexa Maris render flat performances, Barbara Crampton, Michael Paré and Monte Markham are good in their roles, and excellent Rae Dawn Chong.

All in all, not a bad idea but turned into a boring film because of the slow drama parts. A poor film, 2 out of 5.

Title:	Reborn
Genre:	Horror
Year:	2018
Nationality:	USA
Colour:	Colour
Director:	Julian Richards
Writer:	Michael Mahin
Cast:	Barbara Crampton, Michael Paré, Kayleigh Gilbert, Rae Dawn Chong, Chaz Bono, Monte Markham, Alexa Maris, Bob Bancroft, Bob Levitan, Annie Quigley, Chris McGahan, Chris Valenti, Sean Spence
Producer:	Nicole Layson, Jeannie McGinnis
Executive producer:	John Penney
Cinematographer:	Brian Sowell
Film editor:	Mark Talbot-Butler
Casting:	Valerie McCaffrey
Costume Designer:	Susan Doepner-Senac
Running time:	80 minutes
Language:	English