In Our Blood [Fantasia International Film Festival Review]

by Mike McGranaghan

Anyone who thinks the “found footage” format is played out will be delighted to lay eyes on In Our Blood. This Pedro Kos-directed chiller, which had its world premiere at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival, finds an original, organic way to pull it off. The movie makes it integral to the story. That, in turn, allows us to buy into the simulated authenticity rather than being constantly made aware of a gimmick getting shoved down our throats. Even better, the story is about more than just generating thrills.

Emily Wyland (Brittany O’Grady) is a documentary filmmaker whose new project is about her effort to reconnect with – and get answers from – her estranged, recovering addict mother Sam (Alanna Ubach). Cameraman Danny (E.J. Bonilla) faithfully captures their interactions, but also interviews Emily during alone time to get her private thoughts. After a single day of shooting, Sam goes missing. It turns out she is not the only resident of Las Cruces, New Mexico to mysteriously vanish. Emily becomes determined to find the answers, even as Danny grows unsettled by what they find.

I could not, in good conscience, divulge the movie’s secrets, although there’s a hint in the title. The engrossing thing about In Our Blood is how it starts off seeming as though Sam’s disappearance is (for lack of a better term) normal, then slowly reveals signs that an unimaginable force is actually at play. A mounting feeling of dread washes over you as each new clue clicks into place. The plot builds to a centerpiece scene that is shocking and bloody, unleashing a surprise that forces us to redefine everything we’ve just seen.

Kos is a documentarian, and he uses non-fiction filmmaking techniques to heighten the impact. For starters, he understands the natural lighting and need for attentive camerawork that are hallmarks of documentaries. He also has Emily and Danny interview real homeless people at a Las Cruces shelter in their quest to find Sam, who was a volunteer there. These things go a long way toward selling the concept that what we’re watching is real. Observance to little details of locations is another factor that a different director might not have thought of, but which Kos employs effortlessly.

More than a few found footage movies have featured performances that are, shall we say, less than convincing. In Our Blood is different. O’Grady does emotional work that conveys the long-standing pain driving Emily’s project. Ubach plays opposite her nicely, infusing Sam with a mixture of resentment and guilt. Rounding out the main cast, Bonilla is in charge of letting the audience know when it’s time to be afraid, a task he achieves beautifully through Danny’s increasing reticence.

In Our Blood doesn’t quite stick the landing with its concluding twist. Despite being well within the story’s internal logic, the revelation slightly disturbs the delicate human core that has been so carefully built. Looked at as a whole, however, this is a movie that compassionately explores themes of addiction and parent/child strife while still managing to deliver the goods when it comes to horror.

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