There are thrillers — and then there are psychological reckonings.
Mansa Studios and AMC Theatres have released the first trailer for Newborn, a psychological drama written and directed by Nate Parker and led by David Oyelowo. The film opens April 10 exclusively in AMC theaters, signaling a theatrical-first strategy that feels intentional in an era dominated by algorithm-driven premieres.
Newborn follows Chris Newborn (Oyelowo), a man released after seven years in solitary confinement. Determined to rebuild his life and reconnect with his family, he quickly realizes that freedom itself has become a psychological battleground. What should be liberation instead feels disorienting — isolating in new ways that mirror the punishment he thought he left behind.
The film also stars Olivia Washington, Barry Pepper, Jimmie Fails, and Aiden Stoxx, rounding out a cast that blends prestige drama experience with emerging presence.
Originally titled Solitary, the project went into production during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has been awaiting release since. Its themes — isolation, reintegration, psychological rupture — now land in a cultural moment that understands confinement differently than it did six years ago.
Produced by Parker and Oyelowo alongside Aaron L. Gilbert and Christina Lee Storm, Newborn arrives under the banner of Mansa Studios, the joint production and distribution label founded by Parker and Oyelowo. The partnership with AMC positions the film as a direct-to-audience theatrical play — one that prioritizes scale and communal experience over digital rollout.
Newborn isn’t just gauging audience appetite; it reflects a deliberate distribution play that prioritizes exhibition scale over algorithmic rollout. That alone makes this release part of a broader industry conversation.
Rated R for violent content and bloody images, the film signals intensity, but the trailer suggests its real tension lies in psychological reintegration — the quiet terror of stepping back into a world that no longer feels familiar.
For audiences who support character-driven, Black-led psychological storytelling on the big screen, April 10 becomes more than a release date. It becomes a signal.
Watch the trailer now. And if theatrical-first storytelling still matters to you — show up.
