Major spoilers for Newborn lie ahead, so read on at your own discretion.
This weekend marks the debut of yet another title on the 2026 movie schedule, Newborn, which stars David Oyelowo in the lead. Written and directed by Nate Parker and partially inspired by the true story of Richard Rosario, the film sees Oyelowo play Chris Newborn, a man trying to readjust to life after serving seven years in solitary confinement. Considering this is a psychological thriller, the movie has some twists and turns, including a major third-act twist, and Oyelowo spoke to CinemaBlend about filming it.
In Newborn, shortly after Chris is released from prison, he – along with his partner, Tara and their son, Jake – travel from New York to a remote resort to relax. Chris’ time at the resort is particularly tough due to his memories of being incarcerated and the unexpected arrival of his younger brother, Keith, who’s a drug addict. Keith – who Chris saves from life in prison by taking the blame for a hit-and-run at the start of the film – warns Chris about men supposedly looking for him and asking questions about Jake.
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Keith also manages to convince Chris that Tara is conspiring against him for financial gain, and that leads to a heated confrontation during which Chris points a gun at his partner. What viewers learn from Tara in this moment, though, is that Keith is actually, having died amid Chris' imprisonment. With that, the “Keith” at the resort – and at Chris’ apartment earlier in the movie – is only in Chris’ subconscious. When I spoke to David Oyelowo, he shared his reaction to the twist and why he had to tread carefully from a performance standpoint:
I remember reading the script and being just completely blindsided by the reality of that. I thought it was genius that, you know, it was a way to demonstrate the psychic fracture of the character, in a sense. And so the very tricky thing when you're building in a twist like that, is making sure that your knowledge of the fact that a twist like that is coming doesn't now impact the build up to it in a way that either gives it away or you're trying so hard not to give it away that you're no longer telling the truth of the reality of the character, which is that they don't know that this is a figment of their imagination.
So, for Oyelowo, the key was to not give away the twist in his performance prior to that scene but also not go out of his way to do anything that seemed inauthentic to the narrative or his character. Some movie twists are great, while other plot twists can leave a lot to be desired. With that in mind, it’s completely understandable as to why Oyelowo wanted to be careful when it came to filming the Keith-related reveal.
The Nightingale star also made a few more good points about filming that major twist scene. As he pointed out during our interview, there were certain elements beyond his control. On that note, Oyelowo explained how Nate Parker figured into all of it:
I had to lean on Nate quite a bit for that — Nate Parker, who wrote and directed the script. Because, in many ways, it's his job, in terms of where the camera goes, how he's calibrating our performances to make sure that that reveal lands. But you know, I have an enormous amount of trust in him, both as a friend and as a creative collaborator. So that wasn't a hard thing to do.
Considering this is the same actor who excellently portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma (and dealt with the impact of staying in character for months), I’m not surprised to hear such cerebral thoughts from Oyelowo. He, of course, also has to give himself some credit, though, because his performance also has to work for the twist to really feel palpable. It’s honestly quite devastating when Chris turns around to see Keith is gone and realizes his brother is not truly there.
That kind of reveal speaks to the intimate nature of Newborn and by extension, the fact that it’s not simply a prison movie. What the Keith reveal represents is how those who’ve experienced trauma can carry a portion of that with them and how that emotional baggage can manifest in visceral ways. Fans can come to their own conclusions, though, by seeing the film for themselves, as it’s currently playing exclusively in AMC Theaters.
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