A modern riff on the classic Frankenstein story — think Cronenberg with a distinctly feminist slant — with two brilliant performances by Marin Ireland (The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Frameline42) and Judy Reyes (Claws) at its center, birth/rebirth follows two women at different ends of the medical field. Celie (Reyes) is a nurse who balances the demands of her job with attending to her young daughter; Rose (Ireland) works in the hospital morgue and shuns human interaction. But Rose also has a secret project at home: the study of dead tissue, and her efforts at reanimating it.

As the two women’s paths are brought together, surprise circumstances quickly make Rose and Celie inextricable from one another. What follows is a dark and twist-laden psychological horror told on human terms, with incisive insight into each woman’s emotional truth in extraordinary circumstances. Given a unique perspective from feature debut director Laura Moss, birth/rebirth is a subtly subversive and devilish look at motherhood, family units, and modern medicine.