‘Blood Runs Down’: Using Rituals in Cinema About Blackness and Womanhood

A film that stands as a deliciously horror genre short and also a piece of cinema that speaks to Black motherhood and Black girlhood, Blood Runs Down is an exceptional film that has haunted me since I first watched it two years ago. Written & directed by Zandashé Brown, a Louisiana native, the film’s synopsis tells us that “when a woman undergoes a frightening transition, her vigilant five year old daughter must decide between saving her or protecting herself in this haunting tale of inheritance, daughterhood, and demons.”  Here, I wanted to take a closer look at the rituals seen in the film that touch on the complexities of presenting Black and female on screen and the rituals that center us, save us, and stay in our memories against a Southern, supernatural backdrop. Ritual: Hair Braiding

In the first act of the film marked by the ‘IDOLATRY’ title slide, we learn that young Ana (Farrah Martin) has a birthday coming up – the next day in fact. Here on the eve of her birthday, she’s seated at the beginning of the film in front of a mirror. How this scene is framed proves to be an intimate one to begin this story: Ana’s mother, Elise (Idella Johnson) is patiently working through her hair, one plait already finished. Mom is going through playful banter with her daughter on what she may or may not be able to do as a new birthday is upon her. It is quite a scene with the complexities of Black hair and how this is a sort of ritual that carries weight for Black girls and…