Film #27 — 3/5 Zombie Films
By C. Ramsay
Leading with a very accomplished, atmospheric opening in which community members of the Mi’kmaq reserve of Red Crow begin to realize that a zombie outbreak is spreading, Blood Quantum begins with a lot of promise. The cinematography in the first act is gorgeous, capturing the beauty of the landscape and treating the environment as its own character, or at least recognizing its agency. The camerawork features some forced perspective changes that are sickening in how they move, indicating an as yet unknowable danger flooding in and making the space feel oppressive no matter how open it is. Considering that the Indigenous population is immune to the outbreak plaguing the predominantly white population nearby, and that the environment is historically consistently mishandled when not under Indigenous stewardship, the spread of disease implied through the motion of the camera is a strong foundational component in the type of storytelling that one would hope would extend throughout the rest of the film.
Regrettably, the effectiveness of the first act does not carry through as the camerawork is much more inventive with the landscapes than it is the people. Once the audience has been introduced to the core group of characters and the emphasis remains with them, the cinematography quickly feels dimmed and unsure of how to continue contributing to a storytelling style based as much on showing as it is telling. As a result, the back two thirds are bogged down by the amount of exposition they contain, leaving aspects such as generational trauma with underexplored nuance that make what should be load-bearing characterization feel surface-level.
Likewise, the action sequences are so close to conveying a palpable intensity, but always end up lacking. They’re at times aptly acted, and the physicality is usually choreographed well, but the pacing is slowed from the editing style and the use of the same minimalistic score that colours the rest of the film, no matter the type of scene. Each action sequence feels more like a test run or a grand idea found in a first draft than an element in a refined final product. As with the score, there is also a stoicism common throughout the film in how lines are delivered by numerous characters, which is particularly noticeable because of how often the stakes don’t align with how they’re spoken about. To further fragment the technical cohesion of the film, the progression of a scene is frequently made dependent on the delivery of a visual or verbal joke, which only contributes to holding up what can otherwise be considered effective pacing. There are multiple shots that are so nearly impactful, but are undercut with neutral humour that almost always leaves an extra beat to tell the audience what’s supposed to be funny. There is no trust in the viewer to understand this naturally, and therefore no faith in its own credibility.
There are some really cool practical effects that are periodically featured, markedly during the onset of the outbreak, at the gas station, and during the final act. It’s clear there is a love for the artistry behind how gore can be presented, and that the visuals and execution of each effect were well planned. The film generally has many good ideas, but where it falters most is in hardly rounding out the parts between them to match.
Star rating (/5): ★★½
Recommend?: Worth checking out