Oscar-nominated documentarian Pedro Kos dips his toes into the horror genre with In Our Blood, but it's hardly a departure. Kos' choice to stylize In Our Blood as an in-progress faux-doc keys into his intimate perspective on storytelling. The real-world location of Las Cruces, New Mexico and its impoverished inhabitants is shown unaltered, since Kos strives to give a voice to the voiceless. Terror is second-fiddle to depicting marginalized American communities, which heavily favors unfolding drama over traditional ghoulish excitement. Kos's humanitarian instincts drive In Our Blood as he examines Las Cruces under a microscope, but not everyone will appreciate the film's "substance over scares" imbalance.
Brittany O'Grady stars as Emily Wyland, an estranged daughter shooting a reunion documentary with her recovering addict mother Sam (Alanna Ubach). Emily is flanked by cinematographer Danny Martinez (E.J. Bonilla), her only partner on the project. Everything starts awkwardly enough as Sam and Emily attempt to patch years of trauma over an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner, but then Sam goes missing. Emily digs into Sam's rehabilitation clinic and the Las Cruces community, only to draw the wrong kind of attention. Things intensify once a severed pig's head is planted in Emily and Danny's motel room, suggesting cartel dangers that threaten not only Emily's production, but their lives.
Kos' debut fictional narrative — screenplay by Mallory Westfall — has plenty of giddyup and snowballs with ample momentum. In Our Blood reaches a brisk pace that escalates with fervency, growing nastier and more alarming by the scene. Emily is one of those maverick filmmaker types who keeps pushing her luck against better judgment (and Danny's protests), but Kos ensures her renegade antics feel authentic. Danny's nervous banter is appropriately on guard, while Emily's careless behaviors are because she's trying to save her flesh-and-blood mother. Bloodline complications fuel Emily's determination as she instigates bar brawls or interrogates Sam's acquaintances, keeping conspiracies alive and the narrative smoothly chugging forward.
Emily remarks early on how she's aiming for "cinéma vérité," also known as observational cinema, which mirrors Kos' fluently organic vision. Everything is perceived from Danny's camera rig or Emily's smartphone recordings: visitors on foreign soil. As Emily interviews homeless encampment residents in Las Cruces — playing themselves — or chases another lead into unsafe territories, there's no additional information for the audience via narration. Kos' approach is naturalistic and propulsively gripping as the film charges towards its third-act reveal. Then the film pivots, and pivots hard.
However, by the time Kos' fully embraces In Our Blood as a horror-forward attack on marginalized groups, we're well past the two-thirds marker. Kos smacks us in the face with the film's twist, but that twist's minimal screen time will disappoint some viewers. In Our Blood is so pristinely shot and engagingly acted, but its genre trademarks are underdeveloped and shoehorned. In Our Blood chooses fabled horror mythologies, which only highlights how [redacted] legends feel reductively misdirected, and yet? What does exist is a swift assault with sharp fangs. Kos leaves us thirsting for more development regarding his blood-soaked accents — both as a compliment and frustration.
In Our Blood lightly samples Chloé Zhao's Nomadland and Derek Lee and Clif Prowse's Afflicted, combining sun-kissed desert landscapes with weary travelers in grave scenarios. O'Grady and co-star E.J. Bonilla are naturally captivating as their addiction documentary morphs into a troubling missing persons investigation. Bonilla's increasingly worried cameraman is the "Pablo" to O'Grady's Ángela Vidal (for [REC] fans); Danny exhaustively tries to keep Emily alive as she provokes cartel ire. Alanna Ubach plays anxiously tormented with the best of 'em, her wide-open eyes welling with remorse, and Krisha Fairchild steps in as a wellness center leader who makes her screentime count. It's an impressive ensemble that sustains thrills no matter their shape, but almost fights against becoming a horror movie until the last chance, and that's what audiences will remember.
Don't expect a full-genre affair like Gigi Saul Guerrero's Culture Shock or Everardo Valerio Gout's The Forever Purge. Kos' brand of American exposé about "The Outsider" is always with a documentarian's grounded touch. That's what gives the film its glowing filmmaker's shine and why performances sell as the textbook definition of genuine. That's also what makes this horror-thriller's "horror" elements fall to the wayside. In Our Blood is a shapeshifting experience that won me over with its exquisite techniques and Kos' fluidity of storytelling, and while it might have been grand to spend more time dissecting its finale twist, what exists still achieves tension whether they're [redacteds] or not.
Movie Score: 3.5/5
Matt Donato is a Los Angeles-based film critic currently published on SlashFilm, Fangoria, Bloody Disgusting, and anywhere else he’s allowed to spread the gospel of Demon Wind. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association. Definitely don’t feed him after midnight.
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