- Starring
- Brittany O'Grady, E.J. Bonilla, Alanna Ubach
- Writer
- Mallory Westfall
- Director
- Pedro Kos
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 89 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
In Our Blood, the narrative feature debut of documentary filmmaker Pedro Kos, follows Emily (O’Grady), a filmmaker, and Danny (Bonilla), her cinematographer, as the pair visit the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico to film a documentary about Emily’s reunion with her estranged mother Sam (Ubach). However, as her mother goes missing, Emily and Danny embark on an investigation of their own, as they try to piece together clues to determine what happened to her mother.
Kos’ transition to a narrative film structure is not an abrupt attempt, as he incorporates much of his documentary filmmaking experience in his approach to this story, where audiences follow it entirely through the perspective of Danny’s camera. He also switches between found footage styles, which are cautiously implemented to show both characters out in the world as they searched for clues in Las Cruces, and interview setups exposing the film’s needed character moments. These are incorporated at appropriate moments to highlight different aspects of Emily’s journey. Those aforementioned documentary skills are also used to emphasize a natural shift between the two styles, knowing when to focus on the subject in different perspectives. These dynamic camera setups showcase the professionalism of Danny as a cinematographer, making audiences aware that they are not just watching an amateur try to move around with a camera, something seen constantly with the tired found footage horror genre.
Meanwhile, Kos pays close attention to detail while incorporating recurring elements faced when making a realistic documentary, including the reluctance of locals to be on camera, the quirks between takes, and the natural raw emotions faced by the documentarians, played excellently by O’Grady and Bonilla. While defined as a horror film, Kos is surprisingly reserved in that realm, as In Our Blood notably focuses more on a grounded mystery surrounding the mother’s disappearance and sheds light on the social topics facing Las Cruces. Interviews with real locals of the town are added to develop an authentic recreation of a local documentary feel.
In the end, Kos’ attempt at a tired horror technique is a distinguished approach, utilizing his experience in documentaries to create an intriguing mystery involving real social issues to recreate an authentic documentary. Expectations of a horror film must be tempered as In Our Blood does an excellent job at showcasing the mystery and the topics at the forefront while sprinkling some surprising horror elements within key moments of the story.
still courtesy of Firefly Theater & Films
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