Written and directed by Mi’gmaq filmmaker Jeff Barnaby, Blood Quantum was acquired by Shudder back in June, and this week brings the arrival of the film's trailer!
The term "blood quantum" refers to a colonial blood measurement system that is used to determine an individual's Indigenous status, and is criticized as a tool of control and erasure of Indigenous peoples.
The words take on even more provocative implications as the title of Jeff Barnaby's sophomore feature, which grimly depicts an apocalyptic scenario where in an isolated "Mi'gmaq" community discover they are the only humans immune to a zombie plague. As the citizens of surrounding cities flee to the "Mi'gmaq" reserve in search of refuge from the outbreak, the community must reckon with whether to let the outsiders in - and thus risk not just the extinction of their tribe but of humanity, period.
No matter how overdone the zombie sub-genre seems to be, films such as this one, Deadsight, The Dead Don't Die, One Cut of the Dead and Little Monsters continue to prove that there's still fertile ground to cover when it comes to the undead.
Blood Quantum stars Michael Greyeyes ("Fear The Walking Dead"), Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (On the Farm) and Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant).
Producers are John Christou for Prospector Films and Rob Vroom. Madrona Drive also executive produced the film alongside XYZ Films.
The film is expected to premiere sometime in 2020.