I hesitate to call Pedro Kos’s feature In Our Blood a found footage film because although it does use some of the trappings of that subgenre, I feel his tale of a young woman’s search for her missing mother has more of a cinéma vérité feel to it, with a bit of “behind the scenes” sensibilities at play, too. Kos has made documentary films before helming In Our Blood, and he brings a sense of reality to the film.
The story concerns Emily (Brittany O’Grady), who travels with cinematographer Danny (E.J. Bonilla) to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she plans to film her reunion with her estranged mother Sam (Alanna Ubach), who she hasn’t seen since she was 13 years old and taken out of Sam’s custody because of the mother’s drug addiction. The reunion is difficult for both women but offers some hope, with Sam inviting Emily to visit her at the shelter where she works the next day. Sam never shows up, though, and as Emily searches for her mother, she learns that several other people connected with her mother have died or also gone missing.
The performances from the three leads feel natural, and Kos adds an air of authenticity as actual residents of a Las Cruces shelter appear as interview subjects for Emily’s documentary, which has now turned into a search for Sam. One of the stronger points of In Our Blood is how it grounds the relationships between the characters in reality in the first act before adding mystery and then going into all-out fright-fare territory in the third act.
What didn’t work for me with the film is, first — a pet peeve of mine — a cold open that is addressed again in the third act, and in this case which viewers paying close attention would make a connection about one of the film’s big reveals earlier on, and second, a final twist that feels somewhat out of place and shoehorned in, considering all that has happened before.
Overall, though, In Our Blood is an intriguing feature that offers realistic drama and plenty of suspense. Viewers who tend to shy away from found footage films should give Kos’s film a try, as it takes a unique approach. Fear-fare fans should find the film well worth watching, and I recommend going in learning nothing more than what I have mentioned here about the plot.
In Our Blood screens as part of Fantasia 2024, which runs July 18–August 4 in Montreal. For more information, visit https://fantasiafestival.com/en/.
Check out Horror Fuel’s interview with the director and stars of In Our Blood here!
