I’ll admit it: snakes terrify me. Pop culture did this. Growing up on Anaconda and Snakes on a Plane taught me two things: snakes are nightmare fuel, and I’ll still watch every movie about them. So when the trailer for Beware Boiúna dropped, my first thought was, “Wait, this feels familiar.” My second? “Oh, this is going to be awesome.”
Directed by Mike P. Nelson and starring Kiana Madeira, Jessica Rothe, Logan Marshall-Green, and Juan Pablo Shuk, the film follows a group of doctors bringing medical aid to isolated communities in the Amazon. Lena (Madeira) has a personal mission too: she’s searching for her missing brother. Then the Boiúna—a colossal ancient serpent—makes her presence known, and both missions turn into a fight for survival.
More Than a Monster
The setup might feel like a standard creature feature, but the story pulls from something much older: Amazonian folklore. Set in the Colombian Amazon, the film draws on the legend of the Boiúna, a massive snake said to rule the rivers. As the movie puts it, when there’s balance, she rests. When there’s imbalance, she defends. In a jungle where nature holds absolute power, she decides who lives and who dies.
That mythological weight gives the film more depth than your average snake-attack flick. The Boiúna isn’t just a monster looking for a snack—she’s a force of nature protecting her world, and the characters are the ones who’ve wandered into it. For those of us who grew up hearing legends from our tíos and abuelas, it’s exciting to see a Latin American myth take center stage in a Hollywood horror movie.
It takes a little longer than I’d have liked to get to the wild snake stuff, but once it gets there, it delivers. Bloody, slimy, and disgusting—exactly as a giant snake movie should be. At 104 minutes, it’s the perfect length for a creature feature: long enough to build tension without overstaying its welcome. There are plenty of jump scares, some silly moments, and a cast that commits completely to the chaos. Kiana Madeira is especially fun to watch—there’s a physicality to her performance that makes Lena feel scrappy and capable, whether she’s fixing the boat, confronting the dirtbag, or slithering her way out of another sticky situation.
Should You See It?
Is it predictable? Yes. There were moments when I knew something terrible was about to happen before the characters did, but that’s part of the fun. A movie like this isn’t asking you to solve a mystery—it’s asking you to grab your popcorn, sit back, and wait for the giant snake to show up.
And I happily did. If you love a creature feature, or just want a fun, gross, scream-with-your-friends movie night this spooky season, you should too. Did it make me less afraid of snakes? No. But now I know a little more about Latin American folklore.
Beware Boiúna lunges into theaters October 2nd. For more on the region’s wildlife, check out Florida’s python bounty program, or explore how Venezuelans are reshaping U.S. migration beyond Miami.
