Blood Quantum (2020) Review

 "You don't name things that eat you."

-Charlie

As a zombie apocalypse destroys humanity, the indigenous people of the Red Crow Reservation discover they are immune to zombie infection.  As the world falls apart, they have to decide whether to help refugees who come to them for aid or to let them fend for themselves.

What Works:

I really like the premise of Blood Quantum.  Having one group of people be immune from the virus because of their DNA is interesting.  The movie doesn't do enough with the premise, which I'll get into later, but it's an interesting setup, which leads to an interesting conflict for the survivors.  Should they help the white people and let them into the reservation or not?

My favorite type of zombie movies are the ones that take place on day 1.  I've always liked those a lot more than the ones that take place in the apocalyptic future.  The first act of Blood Quantum is a day 1 zombie movie.  We get some fun chaos as our characters figure out what is happening, which is always my favorite part of zombie movies.  The chaos is a blast.

The gore is absolutely top-notch and we get some incredible kills.  There are even some excellent practical effects.  We see someone get their head cut open with a chainsaw!  That's awesome!  The gore is excellent across the board and absolutely the best part of the movie.

Finally, the acting isn't great in the film, but one person does a really good job.  Kiowa Gordon plays Lysol, the hot-headed, slightly unhinged brother of the main character.  Gordon does a great job with the material and, while his descent into violence is sloppy, he sells it the best he can.

What Sucks:

As I mentioned above, the premise of this film is interesting, but it doesn't do enough with it.  I would have loved more ethical discussions about how to handle the refugee situation.  The movie rushes over that.  None of the refugees have any character development.  It's a missed opportunity to have a character from that group to humanize them.  The only white character that is developed, Charlie (Olivia Scriven), doesn't really count because she was dating our main character at the start of the apocalypse.  It just would have been an interesting perspective to have a white character who comes to the reservation pleading for help that gets more than a scene or two of development.

This movie has a time jump of 6 months in the middle, which is a huge detriment.  I did say I prefer day 1 zombie movies, but this story would have been better served to have it take place all in the future.  We could see more of their societal development and have more time to see the conflict between factions.  Lysol's group doesn't want to help the refugees, which is a fine conflict, but it feels rushed.  Not enough time was given to develop the conflict, so when it escalates, it kinda comes out of nowhere.

The 3rd act cuts around a lot and is a bit confusing.  I wasn't sure where people were going, what they were doing, and why.  Like I said, the later chunks of the movie feel rushed and don't give enough time to develop the conflict.

Finally, the acting and writing aren't great at times.  Some of the actors don't sell it and some of the writing makes me suspect the script was a first draft.  There is a lot of heavy-handed exposition and dialogue that doesn't feel realistic.

Verdict:

Blood Quantum has some excellent gore, a fun 1st act, and a great performance from Kiowa Gordan, but the movie doesn't do enough with its premise, it rushes the second part of the film, and has sloppy acting and wiring.  It's not a bad movie, but I can't recommend it either.

 5/10: Meh