Review: Beware Boiúna is the killer snake movie Anaconda never was — no camp, all tension, in cinemas 2 October
Mike P. Nelson’s Amazon horror with Jessica Rothe, Kiana Madeira and Logan Marshall-Green plays its giant snake as a force of nature.
Let’s be honest: the history of snake movies is a sorry old thing. Give me a great shark film and most of us will say ‘Jaws’, no hesitation. Ask about killer snakes and the best you’re likely to get is that scrappy relic ‘Anaconda’ from 1997, and even then it’s a charitable nod. So imagine my surprise at Beware Boiúna, which not only raises the bar, it bloody well launches it into orbit. Yes, we’ve got a new king (or more accurately, queen) of snakes, and you’d be mad to miss her on the big screen.
Beware Boiúna is primed for cinemas on 2 October 2026.
The Setup: Doctors, Legends and Teeth
The whole thing kicks off with a team of doctors dropping into the Amazon rainforest on a medical mission – proper do-gooders, handing out medicine and trying to make life better for the locals. But you know how it goes: something tragic (deliberately vague to avoid spoilers) forces them to make a hasty exit, and before long they’re being chased through the undergrowth by a fella with his own revenge agenda. Throw in the jungle’s most infamous resident – a legendary giant snake, the ‘Boiúna’ – and you’ve set the table for utter chaos.
Never heard of the Boiúna? Same here, but after this, you’ll be grateful she’s just a bit of folklore and not wriggling around in your local park. The creature’s treated as a force of nature – she’s got no cackling supervillain plan, just an instinct to defend her turf and a tendency to eat whatever’s unlucky enough to cross her path.
The Cast: Heroes, Villains, and Fodder
- Jessica Rothe – She’s the heart of this, playing an almost too-earnest doctor who genuinely wants to fix the world. Naive, maybe, but fiercely likeable – easy to root for, even when things get grisly.
- Kiana Madeira – As Lena, the proper Amazon native who got out, there’s a bit more grit. She’s back to hunt for her missing brother, has no illusions about how rough things can get, and honestly, she’s got a bit of that Ellen Ripley energy – always up for a scrap, never beaten, but wrung out by the end.
- Logan Marshall-Green – Here’s a twist: he’s set up as your classic baddie, the sort to bulldoze jungle and not lose sleep, but there’s more substance than you expect. The script lets him breathe a bit, so at times you might even find yourself understanding his position – almost rooting for him.
Everyone else? Let’s not pretend: they’re mainly here to get eaten, and that’s fair enough. It’s a snake movie, after all.
Snake Versus ‘Anaconda’ – No Contest
If you suffered through that recent ‘Anaconda’ reboot with its ropey effects and a snake that moved like it was powered by Bluetooth, this will be a relief. Boiúna herself is properly executed: she’s startlingly quick for a creature that size (if we’re being honest, the physics are a bit generous), but for the world of the film, it absolutely works. There’s a recurring reference to her as ‘she’, which weirdly lends her a kind of animal dignity and keeps things just this side of believable. There’s a knockout lightning-silhouette shot of the snake that’s pure spectacle – the sort of thing you want as your phone background, if you weren’t terrified it might come to life.
The real surprise: there’s not a hint of camp or cheese here, and that’s saying something. Usually, Hollywood can’t resist sending up its own monster, mugging for laughs, or giving the serpent a daft twinkle. Here, the tone stays razor-sharp and serious from start to finish. It helps immensely that the snake never gets silly motivations – just cold, animal menace.
Kills, Tension, and Style
I know what you’re thinking: does it deliver on the carnage? For the most part, yes: the deaths are all about quick, brutal bites and victims desperate to escape. No WWE moves, no one getting swallowed for laughs – instead, the violence is grounded, which keeps everything tense. If there’s a minor grumble, it’s that the kills themselves aren’t wildly inventive, but the film gets good mileage out of surprise attacks, with a nasty habit of dispatching people just when you think they’re safe. Director Mike P. Nelson does clever things with the camera – repeating shots to quietly build anxiety without you realising why you’re sweating.
Even when the snake’s offscreen, you feel her looming presence – and that tension is the film’s real weapon. You’re never allowed to relax, and the pacing barely gives you a moment to breathe between personal drama, action, and outright horror.
Special mention for the effects team: the Boiúna looks as lifelike as you’re going to get in this genre, shown just enough to keep things menacing and never so much you start rolling your eyes. Rothe, Madeira, and Marshall-Green absolutely earn their pay, wringing proper sympathy for characters you actually want to survive (a miracle, frankly, for a film about a dinosaur-sized snake ploughing through the cast).