Screamfest 2024 Review: “In Our Blood” – A Nightmare of Family Bonds!
After its initial premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival, Pedro Kos’ first narrative feature, In Our Blood, had its North American premiere in Hollywood at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival. For a festival that gives a platform to filmmakers and writers from around the globe, it is fantastic to see newer filmmakers being given the opportunity to open up to mass audiences and professionals in the industry. In Our Blood finds itself in the realm of the spine-tingling genre but slowly unfolds as it bends mystery, conventions of folk horror, and crime solving in a tale of addiction and generational damage between a young woman and her absent mother.
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Emily Wyland (Brittany O’Grady) makes the difficult decision to visit her mother Sam (Alanna Ubach) in Las Cruces, New Mexico after over a decade apart, bringing along cinematographer Danny Martinez (E. J. Bonilla) to help her shoot a documentary focusing on their reconciliation after Sam gets clean. Emily’s mixed emotions seeing her mother again while also revisiting her hometown of Las Cruces opens up past wounds and new sinister happenings that make her visit even more worrisome than she thought.
In Our Blood blends human fears surrounding addiction with supernatural horror that exemplifies an insatiable desire that puts strains on family and relationships. It takes on familial lineage and the importance of blood bonds to family members, whether they deserve our support or not. Emily feels this uncontrollable urge to put her traumatic past with her mother behind her to reshape their mother-daughter relationship. As things take a turn for the worse, her friend Danny makes some powerful statements on connections by blood versus bonds based on respect and love alone.
In Our Blood also balances its gory visuals as they coincide with the darkest forces that take hold of humans everyday. It brings up whether a more sinister “villain” is in fact scarier than addiction’s hold on the ones we love. It greatly utilizes old folklore and puts a mirror against it to satisfy its parallel with modern issues that plague Emily and her mother Sam in a way that unfolds in a dramatic and tense fashion.
The film has elements for everyone, whether you are a fan of the true crime genre, small town secrets, or documentary style filmmaking. Because Emily and Danny are creating a documentary that follows their journey to Las Cruces, including interviews with residents in town and in the rehab facility Sam works at, their project is shot on an iPhone and Danny’s professional camera. Although some may place it in the “found footage” genre it is heightened by the reasoning for the camera on their journey. The script is pieced together to expand on its documentary style as it comes to a conclusion, tackling an even larger topic on those that fall through the cracks because of their very existence being dismissed by larger forces.
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In Our Blood finds its footing with the believability of its lead actors Brittany O’Grady, E. J. Bonilla, Krisha Fairchild, and Alanna Ubach. It breaks away from the found footage convention of young characters using their camera as a crutch for their own shenanigans. Mallory Westfall’s script allows for a deeper understanding of the importance of their documentation. As their documentary takes a turn to unravel the town’s secret, it comes to light in true documentary style, showing that sometimes the subject you intend to focus on turns into an entirely different story. In Our Blood is a narrative feature that gives voice to Kos and Westfall that will hopefully open up more opportunities for them in the genre.
‘In Our Blood’ Rating – 3.5/5
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