By Emery Snyder @leeroy711
Director: Jeff Barnaby
Starring: Forrest Goodluck, Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Máijá
Tailfeathers, Kiowa Gordon, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs & Stonehorse Lone
Goeman
Shudder Original – April 23, 2020
Set on the Miꞌkmaq
Red Crow Reservation in 1981, a mysterious virus is reanimating dead salmon in
the communal waterways. Within the first hours of this discovery, the outbreak
quickly spreads to the surrounding human population. Ravenous infected quickly
and violently attack and consume anyone they can get to, rapidly spreading the
infection.
A title card flashes us forward six months to the new
reality. It turns out, the Indigenous Miꞌkmaq
appear to be the only known immune population. They have make-shifted a camp,
offering refuge for the survivors and a quick disposal for the remaining
infected. But as we soon find out, not everyone is so ready to welcome in a
vulnerable population of colonizers. As the community tears apart over their
differences, Joseph (Goodluck) tries to keep his pregnant girlfriend and their
unborn baby safe from both sides.
It’s been pontificated that Nazis and Zombies are the two
groups that any filmmaker could kill with impunity. If you just want to compose
a fun ninety minutes of cool death scenes, add a horde of either and no one
will bat an eye. Nobody will complain about gratuitous violence or that the
villains weren’t given enough complexities or inner struggles. Parts of this
film feel just that skin deep. I have no grievance with this, mind you. The
practical effects were very well done and I’ll bet this was a fun set to be on.
On the other hand, the great genre filmmakers have always
been able to use the threat of a mindless mass as a metaphor to invoke
provocative social commentary. Romero’s films did this always and to great
effect. It’s in this way that BLOOD QUANTUM shines as something more special
than most films of the same ilk. The role reversal of the ‘haves’ & the ‘have-nots’
gives us a familiar world in which those with resources still fight amongst
themselves about how best to keep their community safe. Of course, this is Canada. And their refugee
policy during a zombie outbreak is still more compassionate than anything we’ve
seen in the U.S. under our current administration.
While this film does a good job at reflecting on this
continent’s dark history of colonialism
By and large, the technical aspects here are mostly well
done. The film was shot very well. It can be complicated shooting a lot of
zombie siege fight sequences in a way that the audience can actually comprehend
what’s going on. This film looked far better than anything in the final season
of “Game of Thrones”. The acting was a bit of a mixed bag but I would give
additional kudos to Stonehorse Lone Goeman. He doesn’t have much experience as
an actor but is rather well known as a trainer MMA world. Here he plays sort of
a First Nations Samurai Grandpa character that’s a delight whenever he’s on
screen. I would also highlight the ultra-hip animated sequences that pop up
throughout the film. I don’t really know anything about animation but it looked
really cool.
I think the story falters a bit in its pacing and tonal
shifts. At times it seems like it’s trying to have a little too much fun with
the “zed” murdering badassery to be taken seriously as a social commentary. Most
of this is easily forgivable but from time to time, it’s unclear where the film’s
heart it.
My biggest, and only true gripe was with the underdevelopment
of its characters and relationships. Sometimes it’s the tendency of a
storyteller aiming at a universal truth to give less time for the details that
flesh out the finer points. It’s hard to understand that specificity allows
greater empathy and identification but I’ve found this to always be the case.
Our main characters give lip service to their back stories but a few flashback
scenes would have gone a long way for the audience. This was a bit extra disappointing
considering the fact that Barnaby’s first feature, RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS didn’t
suffer from this issue at all.
This is Barnaby’s second feature. The aforementioned RHYMES
FOR YOUNG GHOULS is a better film that I’ve grown to love a little bit more
with every additional viewing. It takes place in the same area about a decade
earlier than BLOOD QUANTUM. And although it’s an imperfect film, it succeeded in
many ways. And I’m very excited to see what he comes up with next.
Emery’s Rating
3.5 out of 5 Stars
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