By George & Josh Bate
Beware Boiúna, the opening night film of this year’s Fantastic Fest, proves that Anaconda does not have the monopoly on nor does it need to be the template for giant snake movies.
Beware Boiúna follows a team of young doctors, including Alli (Jessica Rothe), who embark on a humanitarian mission to the Amazon rainforest to provide medical supplies and care to those in need. While traversing the jungles and waters of Columbia, Alli and local Lena (Kiana Madeira) cross paths with Brennan (Logan Marshall-Green), a man whose motives for being in this corner of the world are less altruistic, to say the least. To make matters worse, their arrival seems to awaken an ancient predator named Boiúna, a vicious 100-foot-long, 3.5-foot-wide snake, meaning they now need to contend against enemies both human and animal alike.
The HoloFiles recently had the opportunity to speak with Beware Boiúna director Mike P. Nelson and stars Jessica Rothe and Kiana Madeira about their new film, its more serious approach to a creature feature, shooting on location along the Amazon River, and more.
When one thinks of giant snake movies, silly, campy fare like Anaconda immediately comes to mind. Interestingly, this is decidedly not the tone director Mike P. Nelson lands on.
The filmmaker, known for his underappreciated reboot of Wrong Turn and last year’s superb reinvention of Silent Night, Deadly Night, initially questioned whether he wanted to tackle a giant snake movie for his next project. “I had the same question,” Nelson said. “I never thought I’d want to make a giant snake movie. “But I thought, ‘What could we do different?’…I’d never seen one like [this] before. That took itself more seriously.”
Approaching a snake creature feature more seriously means that Nelson used the conventions of the genre to comment on timely topics, including illegal gold mining in the Amazon and, a little more subtlety, the unintended implications of white saviors coming to a foreign land with good intentions.
The ability of horror movies to explore such potentially dense topics in an approachable manner is something that drew Jessica Rothe to the project. Rothe, who brings a whopping three movies to this year’s Fantastic Fest, is the closest the film industry currently has to a bonafide Scream Queen. Initially bursting onto the scene in the slasher comedy Happy Death Day, Rothe has gone on to star in romantic dramas, action thrillers, and sci-fi television, but she keeps being pulled back into the realm of horror.
“Horror fans are the best,” Rothe said in response to a question about her prolific run in horror movies. “I also think that horror has some of the best filmmakers working today. Chris Landon, Josh [Giuliano], and Mike [P. Nelson].”
“Horror always lets you talk about issues you may not be able to otherwise,” Rothe continued. “People may not want to go see a movie about really serious subjects, but horror is more accessible.”
But Rothe isn’t the only veteran of the horror genre in Beware Boiúna. Her co-star Kiana Madeira similarly burst on the scene in the horror genre, having playing the lead role in Netflix’s acclaimed Fear Street trilogy. Since then, Madeira has just about done it all, from YA action romance like Perfect Addiction to the nostalgic revival of Malcolm in the Middle to the Netflix breakout series Trinkets.
In Nelson’s film, Madeira takes on a different challenge by playing a woman of Colombian and Brazilian heritage. “I worked for two months with a dialect coach,” Madeira revealed in discussing her preparation for the role. “We created our own kind of dialectic. I had to learn some Spanish. Then we also had Brazilian Portuguese. We made it so that one parent was Columbian and the other parent was Brazilian, because both cultures intersect on the Amazon.“
To align with the more grounded tone, Beware Boiúna was filmed on location in the Amazon. That means Nelson, Rothe, Madeira, and the rest of the cast and crew were immersed in the jungle for months and subject to all the heat, exhaustion, and sweat (lots of sweat) that come with that.
Rather than glamorize characters traversing the Amazon, Nelson made the decision to let his characters be dirty, sweaty, and greasy, as they would if they were actually on an expedition through the jungle. “It was all real,” Madeira said. “The sweat, the dirty clothes, everything.”
Rothe was quick to point out how refreshing it was for actresses in a major motion picture to be depicted as grimy and unkempt on screen. “It was really nice not to have a studio exec being like, ‘We gotta get rid of those bags from under Jessica’s eyes’ or ‘She looks fat there,’” Rothe said.
Despite the harsh conditions of the shoot, the trio spoke so fondly of the production. “It was so collaborative,” Rothe said. “Everyone was supporting one another.” Nelson added, “It’s weird now being here talking about the movie. I kinda miss being out there.”
In talking about a giant snake movie, it was inevitable that Anaconda came up in our conversation. But Nelson referred to a more unusual and unsuspected film as a touch point for his movie.
“Sorcerer,” Nelson revealed. “That was a big reference point. Like what if Sorcerer had a huge snake.”
Rothe added, “Sorcerer was actually one of the first movies Mike put me onto before making the movie.”
For those unfamiliar, Sorcerer is a 1977 thriller from acclaimed filmmaker William Friedkin. The film follows four desperate fugitives from around the world who hide out in a decaying South American village and take on a deadly job driving trucks loaded with unstable nitroglycerin to put out an oil well fire.
Rothe also pointed out that fans of a popular franchise will likely enjoy Beware Boiúna. “I think people who like Jurassic Park will like our movie,” said Rothe.
The difference, or at least one of the differences, between Beware Boiúna and Jurassic Park is that the former has “lots of fluids,” jokes Rothe.
Nelson uses the words “mud,” “blood,” and “snake” to describe his film, an apt trio of descriptors that capture the essence of his film.
Madeira, meanwhile, corroborated Rothe’s joke about fluids. “Wet, wet, wet,” she laughed in describing the film succinctly in three words.
When one reads the log line for Beware Boiúna, they may expect a silly, funny film that doesn’t take itself seriously, but Nelson’s movie subverts these expectations every step of the way. Selectively employing its massive snake in a manner akin to how Spielberg used the shark in Jaws, Nelson concerns himself with the journeys of his characters far more than the average creature feature filmmaker, and thankfully cast two leading women more than capable of creating fleshed-out characters to root for and get behind.
But in addition to the dramatic material, Beware Boiúna delivers where it counts. The 100-foot long pitch black snake is amazingly created with practical effects and shot so well by Nelson. The chaos that the snake reigns brings the kind of kills and thrillers audiences will simultaneously wince and laugh from discomfort at.
With two of the most talented actresses working today in leading roles and a commendable commitment to a rigorous on-location shoot that aligns with the film’s more grounded approach to a feature feature, Beware Boiúna makes for nail-biting, heartfelt, subversive, and surprisingly prescient viewing.
Beware Boiúna made its world premiere at this year’s Fantastic Fest. The film hits theaters on October 2, 2026, courtesy of Lionsgate.
