NEWBORN
(director/writer: Nate Parker; cinematographer: Elliot Davis; editor: Luke Clarrocchi; music: Anthony Willis; cast: Jimmie Falls (Keith Newborn), David Oyelowo (Chris Newborn), Barry Pepper (Hershey), Olivia Washington (Tara), Aiden Stoxx (Jake), Rukiva Bernard (Ella); Runtime: 112; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Christina Lee Storm, Aaron L. Gilbert, David Oyelowo, Nate Parker; Mansa Studios; 2026)
“Too muddled to say anything about the mental health issues it brings up.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Nate Parker (“American Skin”/”The Birth of a Nation”) directs/writes this psychological thriller that tells the disappointing story about the wrongly imprisoned Chris Newborn (David Oyelowo) and all the bonehead decisions he made to ruin his life.
The working-class young man ChrisNewborn (David Oyelowo) and his fiancée Tara Benton (Olivia Washington) live together in a cramped apartment in New York City’s borough of Queens. Chris’ troubled young brother Keith Newborn (Jimmie Fails) has been temporarily living with Chris and Tara, but Keith plans on moving out.
Keith, while driving Chris’s car, gets in a car accident and flees. He’s the only survivor among multiple deaths, and is bleeding when he comes to Chris’ Queens apartment.
Keith’s an ex-con and could if convicted get a stiff sentence. Chris decides to take the blame for the hit-and-run.
In 2020, through flashbacks we see that in 2013 Chris stopped prison guards from beating a prisoner, who died.The guards pinned the murder on Chris, as he spent seven years more in prison in solitary confinement. He was freed from prison in 2020 because of the efforts of the Innocent Project (a group who fight to turn over wrongful convictions).
Chris is the father of a non-verbal 8-year-old boy named Jake (Aiden Stoxx), who chooses not to talk even though he has no physical reasons that prevent him from talking.
The story goes off the rails as Chris turns out to be a hot-tempered embittered ex-con with anger management issues, who can’t relate to his needy son or supportive hospital nurse wife.
It ends with a vacation in hell in a resort in the woods, arranged by Tara’s hospital friends, where there are only white people around, a wolf attack, brother Keith showing up stoned, and a distorted view of things that makes little sense.
The pic is too muddled to say anything about the mental health issues it brings up or about how broken is the legal system. It’s also too incredulous and tedious to be a good watch.
REVIEWED ON 5/13/2026 GRADE: C-
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