Fantastic Fest 2026 saw the premiere of Beware Boiúna, director Mike P. Nelson's latest horror feature, which features a giant killer snake hunting down people in the Amazon rainforest. It's the Anacanda movie many horror fans have wanted, and it's not the surprise meta comedy Sony Pictures gave audiences last year.
No, this one is a legit, no-holds-barred, tension-filled experience. In fact, one of the scenes featured in the film might be one of the most tension-fueled moments I've seen all year. The harrowing sequence features Kiana Madeira's Lena nearly fully submerged in mud, unable to move, as Boiúna (the giant killer snake, who is actually based on a real-life creature), unknowningly slithers around her, leaving her mere inches from death at any moment.
The Direct caught up with Beware Boiúna's Kiana Madeira and Jessica Rothe, alongside director Mike P. Nelson, at Fantastic Fest, where they revealed that, as disgusting as that scene looked, it was actually far more pleasant than anyone might have ever guessed.
Kiana Madeira's Disgusting Beware Boiúna Scene Was Actually a Spa Day
"It Wasn't As Miserable As It Looks."
- The Direct: "That mud pit was it—You can be candid here—Was it as miserable as it looked?
Kiana Madeira: Honestly, it wasn't as miserable as it looks. I will be honest. So they're so kind, and they filled it with like collagen and a bunch of other stuff that was actually really good for my skin, for my hair, and everything. Spa day, basically like a mud bath, sort of speak. I think the hardest part, the most miserable part, was like getting it off at the end of the night because we were shooting night shoots, so like it was probably like 6am or 5 am, just the end of night, and I was outside, and I had to just get like hosed down by like this like huge hose attached to a truck, and I was like, just hose me down. It's everywhere at this point. That was the hardest part.
- The Direct: "Talk to me about making that mud scene a reality because it looked like an awful experience in person. But also, what did you do to make it up to Kiana for putting her through that?"
Mike P. Nelson: Oh, dude, that mud pit was basically a collagen bath, so her skin was radiant. It's funny, you talk to her, and she even said she'll even tell you she goes oh yeah, I felt great after it. No, she was a trooper, though. I don't know if I could have. She's like fully in it, and we shot that scene all day, so that was no joke. Yeah, I mean, we found a spot in the jungle that was kind of in this like tributary riverbed area that had been all dried up, and we dug a hole, and we filled it full of this like collagen soil mixture. So it was like awesome.
Nelson recalled that even on set that day, they all knew that Kiana Madeira's scene in the mud was going to be a moment.
Nelson: It looks kind of like brownie batter, but that's what it was. And they would come in with all these samples of quicksand mud. Like, what do you think of this one? You get to scoop in. You're like, 'a little thicker.' And then of course on the day, it's like, oh, it's a little too thin. We need it to really cling to her. So then they bring more stuff in. I mean, that's one of the scenes that I remember being there, shooting that moment with her, and we all knew we were just like, this is a moment.
Sadly for Jessica Rothe, she was not able to get her own exotic spa—but was she sad to be excluded from the muddy festivities?
Jessica Rothe: 100%. Also, because I just love getting dirty in general. But they came back, and I was like, 'Wait, you got to do what today?' But it was such a testament also to our incredible crew, our incredible set designer, everyone, because they made these experiences that could have been so harrowing really safe and comfortable. Like, there was never a time on this where I felt physically afraid for my safety because we were, especially our stunt team, we were doing some pretty crazy shit. And they were not only always prepared, but we had so many incredibly knowledgeable people around us to help make sure that we were executing things safely, and so it looked really cool. And that's such a gift because that's the only way that you can really be creatively free.
All of our red carpet interviews for Beware Boiúna at Fantastic Fest can be seen below.
