Many grew up watching the horror creature feature Anaconda, which features a giant killer snake. It's a film Sony Pictures capitalized on when the studio released a meta reboot/remake of it last year. However, audiences are about to get a new horrifying serpent thanks to Beware Boiúna.
Directed by Silent Night, Deadly Night's Mike P. Nelson, Beware Boiúna follows Jessica Rothe's Allie, a doctor on a humanitarian mission in Colombia with a group of medical professionals. Accompanied by Kiana Madeira's Lena, who is looking for her brother, the group runs into unexpected troubles with the locals, which then takes a turn for the worse when the mythical Boiúna (the massive killer anaconda) is awoken from its slumber to bring balance to the Amazon.
The Direct sat down with stars Jessica Rothe and Kiana Madeira, as well as director Mike. P Nelson (who also directed a Friday the 13th short film), and discussed what makes Beware Boiúna a one-of-its-kind creature feature.
Why 'Beware Boiúna' Is a Unique Creature Feature
This Isn't Your Average Killer Monster
- The Direct: "What do you feel is kind of the unique stamp of this film on the creature feature kind of genre?"
Kiana Madeira: I think what sets our film apart from other films in general, and especially in this specific genre, is the depth of character and story. Like, yes, this is about Boiúna and a giant snake in the Amazon rainforest, but it is also so much about these people who are going in with their own fears, their own trauma, their own desires, and what they believe is right and what they're fighting for.
"We discovered so much in just bringing these characters to life," Madeira added:
Madeira: And for us as actors, like we discovered so much in just bringing these characters to life, like on the day of like, you know, people thinking like, no, your character's wrong and my character's right because of this, and we had so many conversations about like who's the hero, who's the bad guy, who's the monster, and I think like because of that, it really adds a whole layer of nuance and depth to the film.
Beware Boiúna star Jessica Rothe jumped in to add that the film's added groundness elevates the story:
Jessica Rothe: I think also, it's the thing that's so fun about this, and what Mike really brought to it is this combination of things that are grounded so in reality. Us shooting in the Amazon, the fact that there really was a snake 50 million years ago called the Titan Ebola that was that big, that powerful, that muscular, and that ferocious, and mixing it with this incredible South American folklore of Boiúna...
"There's always this little bit of magic in all of Mike P. Nelson's movies," Rothe added, praising director Mike P. Nelson:
Rothe: And so there's always this little bit of magic in all of Mike P. Nelson's movies, where there is this bit of lore, thie, like stories you tell in the dark—is this real? Is it our imagination? Does it matter when you end up in a deep, dark place, like if it's real or not? Because it's still really freaking terrifying.
Beware Boiúna director Mike P. Nelson said that he feels like one differentiating factor this movie has compared to many others in the genre is that they "let it breathe:"
Mike P. Nelson: I like to say that we let it breathe... The fact that we're able to not just jump in, and we just got to start offing people one by one. I feel like there's, strangely, you get thrown so many rules in these movies on what you can and can't do. And one of the movies that was so inspiring to me, that's been inspiring to me for so long, has been William Friedkin's 'Sorcerer,' and how he just took his time to get to carting TNT across the jungle. That doesn't happen right when the movie starts.
Nelson noted that you also "get to see the strife that's going on in the environment that they're [the characters] dealing with:"
Nelson: You get to know these guys, you get to live with them. You get to smell the surroundings. You get to see the strife that's going on in the environment that they're dealing with, and then they go on their journey. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to give the audience a moment to chill, not necessarily chill, but to find the tension that is between these characters in that first half, and then really just nail them with a gut punch in that second half. That this place is beautiful, but it's unforgiving.
Boiúna's Quest for Balance
This Mythical Creature May Want More Than Just Blood
- The Direct: "There is the idea of this mythical creature bringing balance... I thought it was interesting because there's a group in this movie who are good, who are saving lives and healing people, and then there's a group of greedy people who are very clearly upsetting this balance. However, when [Boiúna does] come out to kill everyone, she's not differentiating between these groups. How that's bringing balance, and what does that mean in this film?"
Mike P. Nelson: Yeah, I mean, as the saying goes, when there's imbalance, she defends, [when there's] balance, she rests. I think that one of the things that I was trying to do with our creature is walk the line between science and mythology, because this is a creature that is rooted in reality. You know, this is a snake that existed 50 million years ago, [the Titanoboa from the Paleocene epoch], and the fact that something this big existed just blew my mind.
Boiúna is the product of stories and legends told through generations, which led Nelson to explore where some truth might lie in those tales:
Nelson: And then you have the stories and the legends that are told by the indigenous in their communities. And, you know, my question was always like, gosh, is there truth to both, and do they cross over at some point? And to me, playing in that realm was really interesting to me. So I think you have moments where you question—You're like, is there something else going on, or is she just this animal, this creature that you know is out in the woods? She's hungry. She's trying to survive. And let's just be real: like, are you impeding in her domain?
The entirety of both interviews can be viewed below.
