Movies

You think you’ve seen every way to dispatch a zombie, and then someone applies a chainsaw to a skull in a particularly satisfying manner.But no matter how good that scene is, or the yards of entrails pulled out of bodies, scares are not the distinguishing feature of the Canadian filmmaker Jeff Barnaby’s new effort. Zombie stories are about the spread of lethal contamination, so Barnaby’s central premise is inspired: When dead people come back to ersatz life, it turns out that Indigenous folks are immune — a sardonic twist on their ancestors succumbing to diseases imported by the European settlers.“Blood Quantum,” now streaming on Shudder, is set in 1981 in Red Crow, a fictional Mi’gmaq reserve that was also the setting of Barnaby’s debut, “Rhymes for Young Ghouls” (a grimly compelling drama available on Amazon Prime). The sheriff, Traylor (Michael Greyeyes), is appropriately stern and efficient, though he struggles to manage his dangerously hotheaded older son (Kiowa Gordon) — the young man goes by Lysol, which does not suggest a sunny personality.[embedded content]Still, wayward children are nothing compared to being holed up in a reserve-turned-compound, fending off both zombies and refugees who may or may not be infected. Unfortunately, the film emulates many of its genre brethren’s inability to convert a promising start into a solid second act. Barnaby, himself born on the Mi’gmaq reserve, suggests a legacy of internalized self-harm seeded by colonialism, but he does not fully exploit that thought — though a haunting finale almost redeems the flabby midsection.In addition to directing, Barnaby wrote and edited the movie, as well as composed the score with Joe Barrucco (shades of John Carpenter). This helps give the story a coherent aesthetic — gloom is de rigueur in cinematic zombieverses, but “Blood Quantum” feels haunted even before the undead appear. That it ends on a note of resignation, rare in this type of film, is a testimony to the singularity of Barnaby’s work.Blood QuantumNot rated. In English and Mi’gmaq, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. Watch on Shudder. More

As endings go, the one invented by the Swedish director Lukas Moodysson for his gentle, unassuming comedy “Together” (2001) is just about perfect. It’s not a spoiler to share it: Already, the members of a 1975 commune have squabbled over everything from eating meat to owning a TV and the need for wearing underwear in the kitchen. Their children, often the most mature people in the room, look on, mortified. One morning after the worst of the infighting has ended, everybody heads outside for a sloppy, impromptu soccer match under a light snowfall — adults and kids, women and men, socialists and materialists. In the chaos of the game, all is forgiven.As if this scene weren’t sweet enough, Moodysson adds a little ABBA, the period-specific hit “SOS,” using its minor-key piano riff and lyrics as a counterpoint to the euphoria: “Where are those happy days? They seem so hard to find.” Neither Moodysson nor his producers could predict how this climax would play for audiences during the film’s American release — 10 days after Sept. 11. Arriving in theaters during that terrible moment, “Together” felt like a gift, a reminder of something precious.Movies have an alchemical way of resonating with real-world traumas. The better ones somehow intuit an audience’s discomfort, absorbing the anxiety and replacing it with cool reserves of dignity. During the coronavirus quarantine, we can cram our viewing binge lists with distractions (I certainly have): escapist rom-coms, violent Scorsese beatdowns, even a post-apocalyptic nightmare or two. But thinking about Moodysson’s “Together” made me yearn for tales of resilience, for characters who have been where we are — or somewhere similar — and made their way through a crisis, not only surviving it but arriving at a kind of grace.The gold standard for weathering-the-storm films is William Wyler’s “Mrs. Miniver” (1942), still reliable for exquisite pangs of British stiff-upper-lip resolve. (It was, in fact, a Hollywood studio product, shot on the MGM lot.) While the plot is World War II-adjacent, it contains no soldiering. Instead, the story focuses on a fictional cozy English village on the outskirts of London and one affectionate upper-middle-class family whose oldest son, Vin, an Oxford student, enlists in the Royal Air Force.“Mrs. Miniver” will wreck you, incrementally, with every subtle expression of worry flicking across the face of the matriarch, Kay Miniver (Greer Garson, in one of the most psychologically acute performances of the 1940s). At the beginning of the film, Kay seems almost distracted — she’s got her mind on buying that fancy hat in the city, which she does. But watch how Wyler lingers on that frilly extravagance, now propped on her bedpost. With the sound of bombers getting closer every day, will there be time for hats, time for gardening contests and prizewinning roses? Will Kay be left with anything at all?Sacrifices big and small make up the film’s progression to a larger sense of commonality. “Cleo From 5 to 7” (1962), the effervescent French Left Bank classic by Agnès Varda, follows a similar trajectory, even if it begins in a more lovably neurotic, self-absorbed place. The glamorous title character (Corinne Marchand) — a Parisian singer with a cool loft, a team of songwriters and several rambunctious kittens — is consumed with foreboding, nervously awaiting the results of a cancer test.She takes to the streets, Varda’s documentary eye capturing the pulse of a flirty city that barely registers on her. (Cleo is as glum as someone can be in a polka-dot dress.) Marchand’s huggable creation, always checking herself in the mirror, exists to be seen. She even goes to a hat store, trying to get her mind off things. It doesn’t work.None of it helps, until magically, a shift happens. It’s the first day of summer, a good listener tells her in the park. (He’s also very handsome.) What begins as a distraction becomes something deeper. Varda’s masterpiece is often viewed through a feminist prism, Cleo evolving out of a coquettish, male-imposed persona to a more grounded conception of self. But in her awakening, we’re also watching the ultimate film about coping. “Today, everything amazes me,” she says, reborn, eyes shining. More

Michelle Obama has worn a number of hats over the past several years: first lady, film producer, best-selling author. She now adds a new title to her résumé: Netflix documentary star.“Becoming,” a film based on her 2018 memoir of the same title, will be released on the streaming site on May 6. The documentary provides a “rare and up-close look at her life” as the former first lady transitions back to a life outside the White House, Netflix announced on Monday.Nadia Hallgren, a documentary cinematographer from the Bronx, followed Obama through her 34-city book tour after “Becoming” was published. In the memoir, Obama writes of her childhood and upbringing, her marriage and family, and her time in the White House. The book topped the nonfiction best seller lists when it was released in 2018 — not just in America, but around the world.“Those months I spent traveling — meeting and connecting with people in cities across the globe — drove home the idea that what we share in common is deep and real and can’t be messed with,” she wrote in a statement. “In groups large and small, young and old, unique and united, we came together and shared stories, filling those spaces with our joys, worries and dreams. We processed the past and imagined a better future.”Capturing an intimate portrait of Obama was a challenge, Hallgren added in a statement: “For security reasons alone, she’s flanked by Secret Service everywhere she goes. She moves quickly and I had to learn to move with her.”Michelle and Barack Obama have already found some success with Netflix. Their production company, Higher Ground Productions — which is also behind “Becoming” — struck a multiyear deal with the streaming service in 2018 to create films and television shows. One of their first projects, “American Factory,” won this year’s Oscar for best documentary. Another recent documentary, “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” was released on the platform last month to positive reviews. More