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2024 American film

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 Productions Fastback Films Pictures Up Beast Los Angeles
Distributed by	Plaion (UK) Meteor (Germany) Swift (France)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	UK USA

Blood Star is a 2024 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 9 2024 and was released in the UK on October, 7 2024 by Plaion. It was produced by Beast Productions, Fastback Films and Beast Los Angeles.

Plot

Blood Star follows Bobbi Torres, a young woman driving down a desert highway, who is determined to return to her controlling boyfriend, despite her sister Anna's pleas to stay away. But her journey takes a harrowing turn when she crosses paths with a sinister small-town sheriff. Initially friendly, the sheriff quickly reveals his malevolent nature. After extorting Bobbi for money and confiscating her phone, he forces her into a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

A routine traffic stop spirals into chaos when the sheriff shoots at her car, sending it careening into a ditch. Stranded and terrified, Bobbi flees on foot, finding temporary refuge at a lonely diner. There, she meets Amy, a compassionate waitress who offers solace amidst the growing terror. But safety is fleeting as the sheriff’s shadow looms larger. After an unsettling encounter where he returns her phone and keys with a mocking farewell, Bobbi is plunged back into the nightmare.

Bobbi offers Amy a ride, only to be brutally murdered in an ambush. Bobbi, drenched in blood, is thrust into a relentless battle for survival. Seeking help from a trucker only leads to further tragedy as the sheriff’s ruthless pursuit leaves no ally unscathed. Her flight leads her to a secluded junkyard, where she meets Ed, a seemingly harmless worker whose true allegiance deepens Bobbi’s nightmare. Trapped and tortured, she learns the sheriff and Ed share a twisted philosophy about silencing her defiance—at any cost.

Released at night into the vast, unforgiving desert with a single bullet and a chilling ultimatum, Bobbi refuses to surrender. Faking her suicide, she turns the tables, launching a ferocious counterattack. In a brutal showdown, she takes the sheriff’s police cruiser and exacts her vengeance, ramming him down and ensuring he won’t rise again.Bobbi returns to the junkyard, collecting the IDs of their countless female victims as a testament to her defiance. As dawn breaks over the desert, Bobbi drives towards the city lights, broken but stronger, a survivor transformed by the darkness she fought to escape.

Blood Star is a relentless thriller that pits a woman against the suffocating forces of control and corruption, delivering pulse-pounding tension and a visceral tale of survival and empowerment.

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

As of December 2024, Blood Star has a rating of 6/10 on IMDb.

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"

References

"Blood Star 2024 survival thriller film trailer". Movies and Mania. 2024-09-06. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
^ Jacomelli, Lawrence (2024-09-07), Blood Star (Horror, Thriller), Britni Camacho, John Schwab, Sydney Brumfield, Beast Branded Content, Fastback Films, retrieved 2024-12-04
Cockwell, Sean. "Blood Star | Dark Survival Thriller heading to Grimmfest". Retrieved 2024-12-04.
"New Release Review - Blood Star". The Movie Waffler. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
Hoad, Phil (2024-10-01). "Blood Star review – young tearaway fights for survival in cat-and-mouse thriller". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
Cockwell, Sean. "Blood Star (2024) Review". Retrieved 2024-12-04.
"In Blood Star, Grindhouse Meets Arthouse on Desert Roads". www.moviemaker.com. 2024-11-23. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
"Woman on the run horror film Blood Star's strengths are overcome by its weaknesses". Moviejawn. 2024-10-07. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
"Blood Star". Starburst Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-04.

External Links

Blood Star at IMDb

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