Horror fans probably didn't expect to get an actually terrifying, giant snake movie any time soon—especially after Sony Pictures' meta-comedy take on Anacanda last year with Paul Rudd (who audiences will soon see in Avengers: Doomsday) and Jack Black. Thankfully, director Mike P. Nelson had other plans with Beware Boiúna, a movie whose titular snake is a force to be reckoned with.
Beware Boiúna, which is now in theaters, follows a group of traveling doctors in the Amazon who visit local towns, helping those they can. Sadly for them, not long into their journey, they come face-to-face with a colossal ancient snake named Boiúna, who wakes from her slumber to correct nature's balance.
Now, if you haven't seen the movie yet, make sure to stop reading—because one of the most shocking points of the movie merits discussion: the shocking death of Jessica Rothe's Alli. Alli is poised as the lead of the entire movie, that is, until she's shockingly and violently dispatched by Boiúna.
This leads to Kiana Madeira's Lena becoming the leading character and, eventually, the final girl who survives the ordeal and decides to once again live in the jungle to support Boiúna and her quest for balance.
At Fantastic Fest 2026, The Direct spoke with Beware Boiúna director Mike P. Nelson, alongside stars Jessice Rothe and Kiana Madeira, to discuss why Alli's death had to happen, how it set Lena up for a surprising and impactful character journey, and why Lena chose to essentially team up with Boiúna at the end of the film.
This Is Why Jessica Rothe Has to Die in Beware Boiúna
"That Was a Non-Negotiable Going Into This Project..."
At Fantastic Fest 2026, The Direct spoke with the cast and director behind Lionsgate's new killer snake movie, where they broke down why the death of Jessica Rothe's Alli was so important and necessary for the story.
As for Jessica Rothe herself, the actress shared that her character's death "was one of the things that made [her] really excited about jumping into this project."
Jessica Rothe: I knew from the beginning... It was one of the things that made me really excited about jumping into this project because I mean, listen, horror is all about expectations and subverting expectations. And I have been so lucky to not only get to be in horror movies, but to get to be in horror movies where I die and continually come back to life.
"It felt like a really exciting and fun thing to do," she went on to add, noting that it would make audiences "have no idea where the story is going."
Rothe: And so we thought it would be a really interesting and fun thing to throw at the audience and something that would totally put people on the back foot and make them have no idea where the story is going, and pair that with the incredible final girl that Kiana [Madeira] created and gets to be in this movie, and so many other elements of this. It just felt like a really exciting and fun thing to do.
Director Mike P. Nelson admitted that the death of Jessica Rothe's Alli was "a non-negotiable going into this project:"
Mike P. Nelson: That was a non-negotiable going into this project... You know, you watch so many creature features, and it's like the girl that you meet right at the beginning, and she goes through a journey, and then she's the one that kills the thing in the end, and then she's learned something about herself. And I'm like, nah, f** that. The jungle and this story, there's far more at stake here, and I really wanted to do something that was grounded, that again defied that expectation.
Director Mike P. Nelson admitted that the death was "maybe a little cruel," but that ultimately it was the perfect choice for the narrative.
Nelson: Yes, Alli is sort of our audience's eyes and ears to experience the jungle firsthand, but then it felt it just felt right, maybe a little cruel to take her away halfway through, and then ultimately like you're left feeling kind of alone, and you've learned a lot about Lena, but then you get to start to see what how Alli rubbed off on her through the rest of the movie. So Alli goes away, but Lena learns...
"We kill off like all the people that you think are the good-hearted people right away," Nelson joked.
Nelson: And then Lena, who has been struggling so much [in] the movie, and you learn so much about her, and that you do you feel very sympathetic towards her and what she's gone through. [She] has taken all this sort of insanity that's just gone on, and ultimately it's like kind of like what helps her get through it. It helps her survive. So, yeah, we kill off like all the people that you think are like the good-hearted people right away.
When it came to Lena's promotion to final girl, Kiana Madeira noted that she "loved reading it on the page," adding how she was even surprised by herself at how everything unfolded.
Kiana Madeira: I love that. I loved reading it on the page. I was surprised. It's one of the things I also love about this film. Like, on top of breaking rules, like Mike has been speaking about, that's one that we've broken, and I think [it's] impactful. Also, Jessica mentioned something that I feel like is really important, too. Like, giving a character that's not necessarily the American an opportunity to kind of carry the torch is something that we don't always see on screen.
The actor went on to point out that while many will think that this is simply a giant snake movie, at its heart, it's "about belonging [also] and not knowing where you belong and [also] accepting your past:"
Madeira: So you know, my character grew up in the jungle, and I feel like it makes sense in a way. There was also so much that needed to be unraveled and healed in her. We sprinkle it throughout the first half of the film, like these little nuggets of not belonging and hating the jungle and the trauma of her parents and her past. And I feel like audiences come into the film, think it's like a giant snake movie, but it's actually a movie about belonging and [also] not knowing where you belong and accepting your past, no matter what that looks like, and embracing the environment that embraced you.
Kiana Madeira was fond of the ending as well, calling it "beautiful" and noting that it cements the fact that Lena's home is the jungle.
Madeira: So we needed Lena to go on that journey at the end... [When] Bouina [lets] her go, when she says, "I'm not afraid of you, and they look each other dead in the eye, and Bouina turns the other way because she is the protector of the jungle. She is the mother of the waters, and it's such a motherly, like maternal thing to do. You know, Lena is; she does belong in the jungle, and I think Bouina recognizes that. I think that's so beautiful.
Why Lena Chose to Side With Boiúna and Stay in the Jungle Explained
Kiana Madeira Felt Lena's Choice Was a Beautiful One.
At the end of Beware Boiúna, instead of killing Boiúna at the last moment and surviving the harrowing experience, Kiana Madeira's Lena seems to come to a tense understanding with the creature. After a tense staredown with the killer snake, Boiúna leaves, with Lena deciding that his purpose is to be there in the jungle helping Boiúna maintain balance.
While speaking to The Direct, Beware Boiúna director Mike P. Nelson spoke about why she made that choice, and also how he wanted audiences to ponder if this was actually an ancient deity with complex reasoning, or simply a ravenous animal.
Mike P. Nelson: I always like this idea that Boiúna comes from this lore, and there are these stories about [how] she is sort of all knowing, all powerful, but that also she comes from you know 50 million years of evolution, and she's still there. She is Titanoboa still, in the flesh, and I love writing that line of like, is she just full? Is she just kind of like, yeah, I just hate this other guy, I'm good. Or is she like, I see you, you know, what I mean?
The mystery of whether she was an all-knowing god or simply a hungry ancient snake was one that Nelson had no intention of answering at any point during the movie.
Nelson: And to me, answering that question straight out in the film, I think, would have been a disservice. I love when movies are kind of like, they let me sort of take it in and mull it over, and I like that was again the movie that I wanted to make. I wanted to make something that felt grounded, but that you could ask the question, is there more going on here, and let you kind of let that resonate.
Star Kiana Madeira, who plays Lena, expressed how she loves films where "not everything is necessarily tied up in a pretty bow."
Kiaccna Madeira: I also love films like this [where] not everything is necessarily tied up in a pretty bow and it leaves the audience like asking questions and having conversations and [has] everyone kind of leaving with maybe a different message and maybe a different understanding of why someone got killed in the movie, and why they didn't, and you know, just having those conversations, I love that about this film.
"I see different things every time I watch it," she added, noting that she "love[s] that [her] character gets to walk away and have that like super badass moment."
Madeira: And I think that was my second time seeing it last night, and I have, I see different things every time I watch it. It feels like I'm learning something different about the characters, about the story, about what the movie speaks on and is about. I love that my character gets to walk away and have that like super badass moment. Also, for it to be because she hears her brother's voice, I'm like, it's I don't know—Like sometimes I'm like, was there a snake at all? Was this all a figment of her imagination?
While Lena lived long enough to make the shocking decision she did at the end of the movie, essentially siding with Boiúna, Jessica Rothe's Alli died before she ever got to that spot. But, if Alli had survived, would she have made the same choice that Lena did?
Rothe noted that she does think that Alli might have made the same choice had she been through the same hardships that Lena faced throughout the movie.
Jessica Rothe: Would Alli [have made the same choice]? Well, here's the thing that I'll say about this movie that I love. I don't know if even at the beginning of the movie, Lena would have made that choice, and I think that it's so much about the character journey. I think if Alli had made it to that point with Lena, and had gone through maybe not the exact things that Lena went through, because Lena had to go through what she went through... I think that maybe [she would have]...
"That moment is so about facing your own mortality, facing your own fears, [and] facing the parts of you maybe that you hate," Rothe explained in reference to Lena's big choice.
Rothe: ... Because for me, that moment is so about facing your own mortality, facing your own fears, facing the parts of you maybe that you hate, but that you are choosing to embrace, and I do believe that Alli eventually could get there, especially with Lena by her side. I think if this were like a buddy comedy road trip, Alli would have gotten there. Maybe kind of behind Lena...
The actor did concede that at the beginning of the movie, Allie would absolutely never make the same choice that Lena ended up making.
Rothe: But like at the beginning of the movie, absolutely not. But that's also why Alli is such a perfect window into this world for the audience. We, as the audience, shouldn't feel that way either. We shouldn't feel that way until the end of the movie, till we've gone on this journey with Lena, because it's not until you really understand the thing you fear that then, if you stand up to it, that I think that's what true bravery is, right?
The entire spoiler-filled conversation can be viewed below.
