Blood Quantum' Review: Indigenous zombie thriller goes soft on gore but is eerily resonant with today's politics
Spoilers for 'Blood Quantum'
'Blood Quantum' initially released in 2019 garnering praise at the Toronto film festival and is the most expensive indigenous-directed film made in North America. While the movie has the zombie apocalypse as its main premise, it is impossible to ignore the vivid depiction of social and political realities. Despite being a film following many productions about "White Walkers" or "the Dead," the horror-thriller seemed to have drilled in a different point other than the rise of the zombies. The film is set in 1981, a controversial time in Canada for Indigenous folks. The people of the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow find themselves immune to the zombie plague and the White people, that make up all of the zombies are trying to get in. Using the undead cult genre as a crutch, director and writer Jeff Barnaby pushed out the very real historical narrative of the Indigenous community and White settlers. It's a great movie about dire histories and its consequences, but as a Zombie movie, it's lackluster at best with gore used as a solution to fix almost every tense gap.
Tribal Sheriff Traylor (Michael Greyeyes) witnesses the beginning of the end as a dog come back to life, fish started to flop after being gutted and his son Joseph (Forrest Goodluck) sees a man puking out blood in the jail cell he's in. The family members that resemble the crew of 'The Walking Dead' that audiences become invested in include Traylor, Joss (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers), the mother, the couples son Joseph, the grandfather (Stonehorse Lone Goeman) and lastly Alan aka Lysol (Kiowa Gordon), Traylor's son from a previous relationship. As the First Nation community realizes that they are immune to the zombies that are ready to pounce on them for satiety, it doesn't take long to realize that Lysol is a voice that is against the allowance of people into their reserve - White people that is. Being a horror thriller, we were expecting a lot of gore and Barnaby is no stranger to that genre, but for a movie with a strong title and an even intense lesson on some bitter social truths, it had the potential for more when it comes to its delivery.
The definition of 'Blood Quantum' as per NPR reads, is "a highly controversial measurement of the amount of "Indian blood" you have. It can affect your identity, your relationships, and whether or not you — or your children — may become a citizen of your tribe." The American policy deems that 51% of Indigenous blood is required to be a status Indian. Many watching the film must have deduced the point the movie was aiming to make once they realize that the film speaks of a time where colonialism ruled the high ground. The movie is focused on an Indigenous family now in a position where they not only control the land that's theirs but also have to decide if they are to let White people into their territory. Not to mention, one of their family members, Joseph’s pregnant girlfriend Charlie, is White and therefore not immune to the plague. It's also interesting to note the year at which the film is set to unfold - 1981. This was the year, in reality, where the Mi’gMaq reserve was raided by Quebec police. While history is a bit of a requirement to understand the basis of the film, we feel as though as a horror it failed to be entertaining - how do you ignore strong metaphors of atrocities and focus on Zombie kills? It was the heavy aspect of the film, which is a veiled premise with zombies shining through as apparent stars.
It is also worthy to note that the actors did an excellent job with the script presented to them, although we feel many were devoted to the story behind the end-of the-world plotline. Surprisingly our favorite has to be that of Lysol, a troubled character for sure, but whose depth we feel spoke for many that walk around with suppressed anger. Although he could work a bit on controlling it, his anger, some may say, may be justified. Immune doesn't mean less vulnerable and Lysol fought to protect his community - be it in ways that are gruesome and unnecessary. If you had to pick the a**hole out, it would be Lysol, but the more you think about it, the more his character cemented the reality the film was trying to portray. There are many like him, not to mention, there could be many like him should we get to experience a world where a once tortured community was now in charge of their own rights and values - with the tables turned.
While the movie was sour in its horror genre, with scares that were predictable and often used to cement gaps between transitions, we have to say that Barnaby's treatment of colonialism has to be applauded. There are many zombie movies that we come across in the horror-thriller genre of entertainment, but very rarely does it speak so specifically to a part of history that need not be forgotten. Whether you're in it for the post-apocalyptic gore, or for the bold depiction of post-apocalyptic historic hostility, it's a movie you should watch at least once.
Watch 'Blood Quantum' on Vod now.