Blood Star

Blood Star
Directed by	Lawrence Jacomelli
Written by	Lawrence Jacomelli George Kelly Victoria Hinks Taylor
Cinematography	Pascal Combes-Knoke
Edited by	Ross Evison
Music by	Felix Lindsell-Hales
Production company	Beast Video Production Company Fastback Films Pictures Up Beast Los Angeles
Distributed by	Plaion (UK) Meteor (Germany) Swift (France)
Release dates	9 July 2024 (2024-07-09) (NIFFF) 7 October 2024 (2024-10-07) (UK)
Running time	89 minutes
Countries	United States United Kingdom

Blood Star is a 2024 British-American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Lawrence Jacomelli (in his directorial debut) from a script he wrote with Victoria Hinks Taylor and George Kelly and based on the short story, "Don't Look Back". The film stars John Schwab, Britni Camacho (debut leading actress) and Wyomi Reed, Felix Merback, Sydney Brumfield, Brandon Brown, Joseph Lopez, Eliot and Travis Lincoln Cox.

It tells the story of a young pick-pocket who is driving across the desert, back to her abusive boyfriend when she is targeted by a small-town sheriff who uses his badge as a means to prey on vulnerable women.

Blood Star premiered at NIFFF in Switzerland on July 9th 2024 and was released in the UK on October, 7th 2024 by Plaion. It was produced by Beast Productions, Fastback Films and Beast Los Angeles.

Cast

• Britni Camacho as Bobbi Torres
• John Schwab as Sheriff Bilstein
• Sydney Brumfield as Amy
• Brandon Brown as Truck Driver
• Felix Merback as Blake
• Wyomi Reed as the First Victim
• Joseph Lopez as the Diner Boss
• Eliot as Chuck
• Travis Lincoln Cox as Ed

Critical response

The film is described as "a throwback to all those great thrillers made between the '70s and '90s set in the American SouthWest"

Phil Hoad, writing for The Guardian, explains that "Jacomelli has an undeniable eye for compacting a pulpy morass into snappy imagery, such as a closeup of the sheriff's loathsome kisser as he chomps chicken wings, or the neat transition between scattered scrapyard cars and a box of hijacked mobile phones"

On My Bloody Reviews, the sites critical consensus states that the film is "well photographed" and that it has "two charismatic performers to help lift this above the usual independent film standard".

Tim Molloy, writing for MovieMaker, explains that the film is "a genre film that finds time for unforgettable Tarantinoesque moments, including one in which we watch the sheriff just eat chicken"

Heidi Kru, writing for MovieJawn explained that the film "makes interesting commentary on how men in power abuse women because of their status".

Martin Unsworth, says the film "takes a few different paths and keeps the viewer's interest throughout, and boasts some interesting curveballs and a genuine shock moment"

External links

• Blood Star at IMDb