On Tuesday, the Ray Kurtzman theater at the CAA building in Los Angeles, audiences gathered for a special screening of the highly anticipated psychological thriller Newborn. Hosted by Shawn Finnie, the event featured a post-screening Q&A with actor and producer David Oyelowo, writer and director Nate Parker, and Richard Rosario, the real-life impetus for Oyelowo’s character.
Newborn is a gripping psychological drama that delves deeply into the harrowing realities of life after prison, specifically focusing on the lingering, unseen trauma of isolation. The film centers on Chris Newborn (Oyelowo), who returns home after serving seven grueling years in solitary confinement. Chris is thrown back into regular life, reconnecting with his loved ones, including his wife, Tara Benton (played by Olivia Washington), his brother, Keith Newborn (Jimmie Fails), and his young son, Jake Benton (Aiden Stoxx).
However, physical freedom proves to be only the beginning of his struggles. As Chris battles the overwhelming transition to the outside world, Tara suggests they leave Brooklyn for a quiet family retreat to help him heal.
Unfortunately, what is meant to be a peaceful getaway quickly spirals into a terrifying psychological battleground. Away from the city, Chris’s fragile mental state begins to fracture, blurring the lines between what is real and the haunting psychological demons he simply cannot leave behind from his time in solitary confinement.
To fully understand the gravity of Newborn, one must first understand the unspeakable trauma of solitary confinement. During the Q&A, Rosario shared his harrowing personal experience with the audience.
“So I served 20 years for a crime I didn’t commit, and out of the 20, I did seven of them in solitary confinement.” He went on to explain how his reality shaped the film’s lead role: “The character… Chris Newborn is a piece of me and so many others that have suffered just being in that silence and that solitary confinement.”
For Oyelowo, stepping into this role was an eye-opening journey. “I did not know that 80,000 people on any given day were in solitary confinement in America, a country that calls itself the height of civilization,” he admitted. Shadowing Rosario provided invaluable context for his deeply moving performance.
“Richard was so generous to talk to me about this.” To prepare for the psychological weight of the role, Oyelowo shared, “I just prayed to God literally for the ability to channel some of what it must have been like”.
Adding to the emotional heaviness of his performance, Oyelowo revealed a deeply personal loss that occurred during production. “Unfortunately for me, I suffered a deep tragedy on the first day of shooting— my dad passed away first day of shooting.”
For Parker, exploring the prison industrial complex was both a personal and creative mission. “In my family, far too many men… have dealt with the prison industrial complex,” Parker stated. “It is a very dark corner of our country, and as Black people, we over-index the space.”
When approaching the script, Parker wanted to shift the perspective from the outside world to the internal struggle of the incarcerated. He recalled a conversation with a formerly incarcerated man that influenced the film’s direction.
“He says, ‘It’s kind of like you’re in a grave’…And you’re looking up. And you can see the world happening. You see people walking over. You hear them talking…But you’re yelling at them and they can’t hear you.'”
With Newborn, Oyelowo and Parker aren’t just holding a mirror up to society’s broken systems, they are actively reclaiming their power to fix them.
Newborn will be released exclusively at AMC Theatres on April 10. Following its theatrical run, Newborn will find its digital home on Mansa, the streaming platform co-founded by Oyelowo and Parker. By distributing the film through their own network, the duo is taking full ownership of their narrative, ensuring this vital story reaches audiences on their own terms while continuing to build an infrastructure that amplifies Black voices.
Check out the full conversation below.
Photo Credit: Instagram – Origi_Nate
