In “Blood”, Mother Jess (Michelle Monaghan) is a recovering substance abuse addict. She is also a nurse at the local hospital. Knee-deep in an angst-ridden separation from her husband, she takes to her family’s rural farmhouse property. Her two children, Owen and Tyler, and a beloved dog Pippin are keen not to be in this situation. However, they are happy to go along and make the best of a bad situation with seemingly little unsavory behavior. Dad (Skeet Ulrich) has taken up with the family’s nanny and mom generally has been asleep on the floor of the bathroom in the not-too-distant past. Subsequently, they are pretty good at taking care of each other instead of finding ways to punish their parents in the aftermath.

Now, though, there is a pending custody battle rearing its ugly head. Mom is doing everything she can to scrape it all back together after a heady stint in rehab. To make matters worse, as the two children investigate their new surroundings, they discover a blight in the earth where a fishing hole used to be. In its place is a sinking sludge full of dead animals with a looming and watchful tree at its center.

How To Keep Your Vampire Alive

In the middle of this blundering thunderstorm of emotions, Pippin runs off into the night. “Blood” teeters on the circumference of both a malignant family drama and the plain and simple fact that something is not quite right within the sanctuary Jess has chosen to flee to. She tries her hardest to mend the burning bridge she has built between her and her kids. It would be easy to say, somethings’ gotta give. And it does. In the early hours of darkness, Owen hears his dog, Pippin return. He rushes out to him with Jess and Tyler close behind only to discover Pippin snarling and hateful on the edges of the woods. A strange reflection shimmers from the dog’s eyes. Before you can say Cujo, the dog attacks Owen, ripping open his throat as Jess hits the dog until he releases.

Blood as a film reminded me a lot of the movie Son 2021 in all aspects. If you find that you enjoy the Blood movie, it’s fair to say you will probably enjoy the latter as well. Blood is somewhat less supernaturally. Writer Will Honley’s script leans heavily towards dramatic elements. Shying away from giving too much away about the forces that led this family into the clutches of disease that dictates Owen guzzle down blood and push away anything resembling food. Initially, Jess uses her profession to provide her son with the only thing that doesn’t counter with him convulsing on the floor. But, of course, that remedy doesn’t last long and when the hospital cracks down on who has access to the supply of plasma, she must resort to ulterior motives.

Blood 2023 Movie Trailer

Blood 2023

The Blood movie is held together by stellar performances and a quick turn of events to fuel its dark and ominous storyline. Rather an antithesis to films like Let the Right One In and My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To, Blood rushes in with a climactic ending that is both final and brutal. You can watch this title as a rental on all the usual platforms, however, Mother of Movies is sure it will turn up on a streamer soon. For another review of Blood, see this article from Variety.com.

Blood is Rated

3.5 plasma bags with a straw out of 5

Mother of Movies score

When the Monster is Someone You Love

Does the Dog Pippin Die in the Movie BLOOD?

Yes, the dog is beaten to death by Jess because it has hold of Owens’ throat. The death is not gratuitous and is mostly off-screen.

Blood Movie 2023 — Blood movie. Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Is Blood a Good Movie?

“As its title suggests, Blood is at its core a vampire story… a monster movie. I also liked how the story removed most of the traditional supernatural elements (but not all!) and treated the condition of vampirism more like a medical mystery.”
“Mostly I loved the internal contradiction inherent in the story — the more mom tries to save her childfrom becoming a monster, the more she veers into becoming a monster herself. In other words… is a mother’s love the cure… or the problem itself?”
Quote from Brad Anderson, director of “Blood”

DIRECTED BY: Brad Anderson
WRITTEN BY: Will Honley
The Cast of Blood 2023: Michelle Monaghan, Skeet Ulrich, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong, June B. Wilde, Skylar MorganJones