Beware Boiúna brings animal attack back
Animal attacks have long been a baked in fear of the human psyche. We are clearly at the top of the food chain but there are very specific moments where we can quickly find ourselves prey. This is inherently terrifying and has been played out on the big screen since cinema was incepted. All the way back in 1933, you had King Kong destroying the city while leveling humans beneath his feet. One quintessential fear animal we have never seen be nailed in a horrifying way is the snake.
Long heralded as an evil creature innately, the snake is one of the most common fears you will hear people reference and while we have had the schlocky 90s Anaconda or the oft-memed Snakes on a Plane, a truly terrifying serpent based movie hasn't really reared its head until now. Take that accessible fear of a common snake, supersize it and pack in some Amazonian mythology and you have yourself Mike P. Nelson's Beware Boiúna. It follows a team of doctors on a local mission moving through the rainforest from village to village. However, when extenuating circumstances lead them off the beaten path, they find themselves in the hunting grounds of a mythological giant beast and it is not happy to see them.
This film does so many things right when it comes to an animal attack film. We aren't immediately getting launched into an entire runtime focused only on our beast. There are some great moments that contextualize the dangers around our characters, not only from Boiuna, but also from the Amazon in general. Horrifying creatures such as caiman and massive bugs are coupled with environmental hazards such as quicksand and sheer drops and it highlights nicely how out of their element they truly are. The setting looks excellent, the world seems alive and tactile throughout and there is a creeping dread that danger is ready to leap out from the trees or the river at any moment.
Most importantly, the characters are done well. Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) shines as naive young doctor Alli, and she is paired well with Kiana Madeira (Fear Street), a previous local who has returned to help find her missing brother. Early on, they are forced together through a chaotic encounter that leads to them being hunted by Logan Marshall-Green's (Upgrade) character Brennan, who is a resource pirate in the area. This gives the first half of the film a very revenge thriller vibe before the Boiúna begins her hunt. When Boiúna does get going, Nelson and his crew do a great job of keeping her visual only when necessary. Her quick strikes, long winding body and natural concealment all worked to keep her underexposed and mysterious throughout the runtime. Even when she was on screen for short periods, it was generally only a shot of her head or a part of her body. Boiuna looked excellent as well, the special effects outkicked their coverage of budget and looked incredible.
There are a lot of elements to this film, and it can get a little chaotic at times. But I do think it flows the chaos together nicely and while it could have used about 15 minutes less of run time, it still landed nicely. Overall, this is my favorite snake horror film of all time. The creature looks excellent, the setting is expertly captured, and every performance punched above its weight. It has the serious edge that many of its predecessors shied away from and Mike P. Nelson has quite the career ahead of him. This is the definition of a fun film and I encourage everyone to go check it out in theaters this weekend.
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