Blood
Sturdy, shocking monster/motherhood movie.
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Blood
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Blood is a thoughtful horror movie about a young boy who develops an unholy craving after surviving a dog bite. His mother (Michelle Monaghan) stops at nothing to protect him. Children are in peril throughout the movie, including the central dog attack, which results in bloody wounds. A character is shot, someone is stabbed with scissors, and a person is bashed over the head with a glass jar. There's also kidnapping, self-inflicted wounds, dead rabbits (hung up to catch their draining blood), and more. Language includes sporadic use of "f--k," "bulls--t," "goddamn," "dumbass," and a sexual reference. The main character is recovering from a drug dependency. There are photos of her passed out in various places, and she says, "I've been clean for 15 months!" There's also brief cigarette smoking, and a woman is knocked out with Fentanyl.
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What's the Story?
In BLOOD, Jess (Michelle Monaghan) is a nurse who's recovering from a drug dependency. While dealing with getting divorced from her husband (Skeet Ulrich), Jess moves back into her family farmhouse with her daughter, Tyler (Skylar Morgan Jones), and young son, Owen (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong). Things get off to a rocky start when the family dog, Pippin, runs away. It gets worse when Pippin returns carrying some kind of disease and bites Owen. At the hospital, Owen fights for his life, and nothing the doctors try seems to work. Jess is horrified when Owen suddenly sits up, takes down his IV, and starts drinking blood. Willing to do anything to keep her son alive, Jess steals several bags of blood from the hospital and takes Owen home. But what happens when that supply runs out?
Is It Any Good?
This often-brutal horror movie is flawed but offers a fascinating and fresh take on the ages-old vampire tale, with a powerful maternal twist and other modern parallels. Veteran genre master Brad Anderson brings his usual sturdy, reliable direction to material that could easily have turned absurd. But Blood, written by Will Honley (Escape Room: Tournament of Champions), is less a monster movie than it is a story about Jess' plight, linking her mothering instinct with her former drug dependence. (The cuts she makes on her arms to feed Owen resemble needle marks.) Ironically, Jess letting her own blood causes the same kinds of symptoms that a drug user would experience, and, given that the family's entire situation is a secret, she's equally in danger of losing Owen no matter what she does. It's a powerful, heartbreaking twist, and the movie uses it to deliver striking moments of character-driven shock. If only Jess could have acted less panicky/guilty throughout, and if only her ex-husband could have been a little smarter (does he never notice that his son has stopped eating food?). Regardless, Blood flows smoothly enough.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Blood's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of horror movies? Why do people sometimes like to be scared?
Do you think Jess makes good choices here? What other paths could she have taken?
Why are so many people strongly affected by scenes of children and animals in peril?
How does the movie portray drug misuse and recovery from drug use? Does it offer meaningful lessons?
Movie Details
- In theaters: January 27, 2023
- On DVD or streaming: January 31, 2023
- Cast: Michelle Monaghan, Skeet Ulrich, Skylar Morgan Jones, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong
- Director: Brad Anderson
- Studio: Vertical Entertainment
- Genre: Horror
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Run time: 108 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: March 19, 2023
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