From here, Blood Quantum takes us six months into the future, where there’s a full-scale zombie apocalypse, but only white people turn into zombies; yes, you read that right. All the indigenous people on the Red Crow reservation are immune, though none are immune to getting their guts eaten out of their body by zombie hordes. Joseph’s very pregnant girlfriend, Charlie (Olivia Scriven), happens to be white. The indigenous population and the white survivors are living together in some sort of ramshackle apocalyptic compound. Everyone has their own ideas about how things should be done. Lysol thinks that it’s Us, the Crow, vs. Them, the white people who will soon be zombies. Traylor, Joseph, and frankly everyone else except for the opioid-addicted alcoholic wild card, Shooker (William Belleau), thinks that the survivors should be protected. The two sides have it out with each other while also killing zombies in exciting ways with very satisfying ’70s Tom Savini-Esque gore.
“…turns the zombie genre on its head.”
Blood Quantum is, like all good zombie films, rife with social commentary. It’s about indigenous peoples in modern America, and how they navigate their place in their ever-disappearing world, that used to belong entirely to them. It’s an extremely f***ked up allegory of white people’s colonization of the United States and the world. It shows how it feels to be part of a unique and dwindling population who must do whatever they can to protect themselves, but how far is too far? Don’t worry, though, if you’re here mainly for the blood and guts, there’s plenty of that, as well. Gisigu is a bad*ss with a samurai-style sword, and the rest of the zombie-hunters have their own levels of bada**ery, with one particular member of the posse destroying zombies with a chainsaw.
I personally think that social commentary is the best thing that Blood Quantum has to offer. It’s pretty much impossible to put a new spin on the zombie genre, but to show how it might affect this particular community with this specific set of circumstances is wholly unique. It is a bit of a slow burn, meaning that there are not video-game levels of violence, but when the gore comes, it’s always done with a flourish, which shows good use of budget in an independent horror film. It’s put together in a way that doesn’t show its seams and is definitely worth seeing on your next horror movie night. It will be available exclusively on Shudder.
"…rife with social commentary."
