Rating: NR | Runtime: 108 minutes
Release Date: January 27th, 2023 (USA)
Studio: Vertical Entertainment
Director(s): Brad Anderson
Writer(s): Will Honley

I like it when it’s warm.

Brad Anderson’s Blood (written by Will Honley) is a high-concept vampire film that refuses to use the word vampire (as is the custom for these types of endeavors regardless of supernatural monster). The “diseased” is Owen (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong), the youngest of Jess’ (Michelle Monaghan) two children (Skylar Morgan Jones plays his sister Tyler).

Embroiled in a custody dispute with their father (Skeet Ulrich), Jess has moved her trio to a large but unkempt family home that’s been vacant since her aunt died years ago. It’s there that the kids decide to fish in the lake they’ve heard so much about, only to find it devoid of water. Their dog grows restless in the quiet, sensing something amiss by the tree at its center.

Long story short: the dog runs away and returns home “changed,” attacking Owen by biting him in the leg and neck. Jess rushes him to the hospital where she works as a nurse, but his health is only one aspect of the horror of this incident since a recent spell of self-medication has left her custody of the children in flux.

So, when she finds him sucking down on a bag of blood only to discover it’s the one thing that seems able to keep his vitals stable, she makes a choice. Jess will steal plasma and “treat” him at home. As long as he remains healthy for weekends with Dad, nobody should bother her while she researches a solution. Except, of course, that his appetite inevitably grows towards a point of no return (Wojtak-Hissong does creepy very well).

It’s an effective spin on usual genre tropes with Monaghan constantly pushing herself beyond the limits of morality to keep her boy alive. Her position as a nurse leads to some interesting extremes as she improvises her means of blood retrieval once taking her own often leaves her looking like she flushed fifteen months of sobriety down the tubes.

Those familiar with vampire lore might get frustrated knowing the probable “fix” once traditional medicine proves useless, but know that the characters get there eventually. The delay actually feels intentional insofar as ensuring the film plays as bleak as possible (a literal and metaphorical punishment for Jess despite her genuine attempt at redemption), but I don’t think we’re meant to look that deep. Stick with surface and you should enjoy the ride.

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Skylar Morgan Jones and Finlay Wojtak-Hissong in BLOOD; courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.