No Nosso Sangue

In Our Blood is the first fictional feature directed by award winning, Oscar nominated documentary filmmaker, Pedro Kos, who brought all his documentary sensibilities into this film.

In the 25+ years since the groundbreaking release of The Blair Witch Project, every conceivable spin on found-footage horror has been explored. While not making any huge breakthroughs in the subgenre, In Our Blood brings a fresh approach with a twist in the third act that might cause you to spill your popcorn. Perhaps you will see it coming; a lot will depend on how much you've read about the film before watching it. Although a lot of the themes and allegories in the movie are dependent on knowing the ending, I will keep this review spoiler-free.

The story is about Emily (Brittany O'Grady), a documentary filmmaker who is shooting a film about reuniting with her estranged mother, who is now clean after years of addiction. Accompanying her is her cameraman and cinematographer Danny (E. J. Bonilla) who is filming everything. So what we get here are candid moments of Emily talking about the emotions she's experiencing, as well as more formal shots and interviews for the documentary the duo are making. The other POV is seen through video Emily shoots with her phone, a great way for us to get to know Danny.

The film takes place in Las Cruces, New Mexico, a very worn-out town, close to the border of Mexico. It's a depressed place where people struggle with addiction, poverty, gangs, and a lack of hope. Danny's camera (well, Pedro Kos) captures the beauty of the landscape, interspersed with the hard reality of the people living there.

Part of the documentary they are shooting takes place in a homeless shelter/rehab clinic and includes interviews with the actual, real people staying there. The lines blur between the film we are watching, clearly seen through the documentarian eyes of Pedro Kos, and the documentary Emily and Danny are filming.

The hyper-realism of what we are watching is both immersive and unsettling. In fact, Emily remarks how she wants her film to be cinéma vérité, a style which urges authenticity and intimacy. None of this would be possible without the powerhouse performances by both Brittany O'Grady and E. J. Bonilla, who are fully invested in pulling off the difficult roles.

The story they are documenting takes a turn when Sam, Emily's mom, suddenly disappears the morning after the stilted reunion with her daughter. Like any good documentary filmmaker, she follows this new direction, allowing the film to unfold as it will. And now we have an intriguing mystery that leads us to the shelter where Sam worked, and the people who knew her. Emily is learning more and more about her mother along with us. And from here, In Our Blood becomes a rabbit hole that leads to dark and dangerous places involving gangs, a possible cartel, religious mania, and rats.

All of this plays out as a fascinating and fully engaging drama. The trail leads deeper until everything takes a hard turn, firmly planting In Our Blood into solid horror. As I mentioned earlier, you may or may not see this twist coming. Having known nothing about the movie other than the title and its short synopsis, my jaw dropped when the last act was unleashed. I suspect the twist will resonate with most audiences because it's played out so thoughtfully. This is a film that will reward viewers with a repeat viewing to catch all the subtle clues left along the way. Plus, it does a great job of explaining why Danny is filming everything. It's one of the biggest challenges for found-footage films: why are people still filming stuff when they are being attacked or about to die? Here, the cameraman is specifically told to "keep rolling", much like the camera in REC (2007). It makes sense.

In Our Blood is a dark film about grief, trauma, and addiction wrapped inside one of the best found-footage films ever made.

After hearing from her estranged mother, a woman and a documentary filmmaker set out to the remote New Mexico town where she lives to start reconnecting, but when she mysteriously disappears, the two set out to find her, leading them to a dangerous conspiracy they might not survive.

Overall, this was an intriguing if somewhat underwhelming effort. Among the better elements of this one comes from the somewhat strong setup that gives everything a strong emotional hook to get things going. The idea of undertaking a documentary about reconnecting with her estranged mother after over a decade of being estranged and trying to put the past behind them, only to be led down a dark path when the intervening years of her mother's life start to catch up to her after disappearing, comes across rather nicely. It all sets this up with an emotionally charged and intriguing premise that spurs a fantastic mystery, as shortly after reconnecting, they discover her mother's missing status and the series of inquiries around the community looking for her and finding something they're not prepared for. That their journey takes them into the underbelly of the city, gripped in fear of a gang that rules the area because of their ties to a Mexican cartel known for operating in the area, gives this one a strong touch as they start to piece together not just the disappearance of her mother but also other members of her recovery space. That causes several others out there who are trying to scare them away from the whole experience as their project drags them into the bizarre truth that everyone is unprepared for, which offers up some intriguing elements and some unexpected reveals about what the actual purpose of the disappearances is to turn the film around. Given that this part has the most action and gore, trying to make the twist play out, these all manage to give this a lot to like. There are some factors that bring it down. The main drawback to the film is a wholly underwhelming finale that, while the series of twists comes about rather surprisingly and makes for a genuinely unexpected twist, gives this a generally confusing series of actions, mostly for the sake of a twist rather than anything else. This has very little connection to the main story and really only serves the point of being shocking and unexpected, but when it tries to tie into the film proper, it never makes any sense and actually brings about several inconsistencies that shouldn't be possible. The other factor here, tying into that issue, is that when it comes time to introduce the main creature into the film, it has so many inconsistencies that make it somewhat difficult to fall in line with what is being presented, which is what brings this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.