A Brand New You

Plot

Santiago Morales, a former engineer, cannot accept the death of his wife Viviana from cancer. Renting a room in a house, he becomes suicidal, obsessively watching videos of her on an iPad and building a shrine. His neatness clashes with housemate Murray, a slob who spends his days in underwear amid trash. Santiago learns Murray is a disgraced geneticist fired for illegal experiments.

They recruit the other housemate, Laura, a jobless waitress in debt, to serve as surrogate for a scheme to clone Viviana. The film treats the absurdity lightly: Santiago seems untroubled that the clone would be a baby, not the adult woman he lost. A secondary plot involves another scientist trying to undermine Murray's work as they source equipment. The plan eventually risks falling apart, with the script and character work driving the story in a funny, unique direction.

Production

Kathryn Palmateer, a freelance photographer, and Shawn Whitney, a filmmaker and story editor, are a married couple who made the film to create together. With very limited resources, pre-production focused on a strong script, cinematographer, actors, and music. The directors drew inspiration from the mumblecore movement. Coverage was sacrificed for tonal consistency between the funny and sad elements.

Reaction

Canadian film critics received A Brand New You well. Norman Wilner of NOW Magazine praised the cast, noting the characters' specificity and the actors' investment.

The film appeared in a NOW Magazine year-end list in 2015. Greg Klymkiw on his Film Corner blog commended the film for generating characters and situations rarely seen in movies. Critical writing consistently highlighted the unusual premise and the commitment of the directors and actors.