‘Beware Boiúna’ Review – Finally, A Giant Snake Movie That’s Actually Scary [Fantastic Fest]

I love a good giant snake movie. The problem is there aren’t many. Anaconda (1997) has remained the king for decades. While I adore the corny yet entertaining creature feature, I’m not about to tout it as some masterpiece. Nor will I declare Mike P. Nelson’s (Silent Night, Deadly Night 2025) upcoming Beware Boiúna as the serpent flick we’ve been waiting for. It is, however, a gritty entry in the subgenre and the scariest giant snake movie yet.

Set in the Amazon rainforest, we meet a team of doctors determined to help the locals with their medical needs. Among them is a rookie (Jessica Rothe), facing the vicious landscape for the first time. After a run-in with some foresters led by Brennan (Logan Marshall-Green), she decides to untie their boat from the dock. Interrupted by one of the men, Rothe and former local (Kiana Madeira) throw fists with the guy, accidentally killing him. Now, Brennan and the others are on their tail. But that’s far from the crew’s biggest concern. Because they’re about to run into Boiúna, an enormous serpent worshipped as a god. In the Amazon, she decides who lives and who dies. And she isn’t too thrilled about foreigners invading her home.

Within minutes, Boiúna sheds the cheesy camp label often associated with giant snake movies done to death by studios like Syfy and The Asylum, spawned by the popularity of Anaconda. A group of locals armed to the teeth ambush gold miners who are ravaging their land. Shot on a video camera, we watch through a gritty found footage lens as bullets rip through the miners. Frantic intensity swarms the camp. And, just as the locals finish tying up their new prisoners, the scaly body of Boiúna races through the water, barely visible as she yanks a screaming miner into the jungle. Nelson’s film looks at the countless, CG-riddled giant snake movies that came before and says, “enough”.

Beware Boiúna takes the crown as the meanest, bloodiest, scariest giant snake film to ever slither onto screens. Again, that’s a very low bar, but that shouldn’t take away from what Nelson accomplishes here.