Gaia (5/10)

    "Gaia" is a South African Horror/Thriller film from 2021 about a female forest ranger who gets lost in the heart of an African jungle.

    I caught it when it was free on Hulu but now it seems that it's only on Amazon or Youtube now and you have to pay to see it. It's not the greatest film that there has ever been but it certainly has some neat concepts and amazing visuals. The acting is good, not stunning performances but nothing really cheesy or awkward that sometimes happens in indie films. The monster designs were cool and the whole atmosphere of the film was very trippy and cerebral and grand. It's a film I still recommend despite any faults it may have. It's powerful and poignant given what is happening to our environments today.

Thus concludes the spoiler-free review, and I'll go into a bit more detail now so beyond this point are

    ***

    SPOILERS

    ***

    I suppose my only criticisms were that it... didn't really do anything new? The film didn't really do anything I had never seen before. So it's not like it shook me to my core or anything like that.

    The visuals overall were lovely. The time-lapses of plants and mushrooms growing, of our planet reforming itself in both miniscule and massive ways every single day. Really loved the occasional sequences that almost felt like drug trips, so full of dizzying colors and cerebral images all swirling together. 

    The creatures were essentially humans that had been infected by parasitic cordyceps fungi that took over their bodies and mind and made them into monstrous defenders for the good of Mother Earth. Some of their spore effects looked a little fake but their designs overall and the way they clicked and gurgled was very cool. But I feel like "mushroom people" is a concept that has already been done. The popular videogame, "The Last of Us" came out in 2013 so the horrific thought of humans possessed by fungus is already 10 years old at this point. 

    Some of the scenes with Barend and Stefan, the father and son duo, felt like they were a bit clunky. I felt like... the production design of their clothes and the interior of their cabin in the jungle could have had more care and attention to detail. There was nothing wrong with the characters that I can put my finger on exactly, but if there were any moments that felt a little forced or a little corny, it was with them. The acting wasn't incredible, but hey, they did what they needed to do for the story.

    The film was actually shot in South Africa, in the jungle, which was really cool. I can only imagine that was challenging for the cast and crew. And all of the use of lighting and color was very neat. The weird natural dream sequences and hallucinations were probably my favorite part.

    Overall, the film's message is very raw environmentalism. It certainly doesn't paint humans in a good light when it comes to them being good for the Earth as a whole. It calls out how we destroy everything we touch. How we've failed most severely at conservation as a species. The literal last sequence of the film is Stefan somehow in a large populated city, and he leaves some spores on the wrapper for his fast food sandwich after he is finished eating. It's unclear if he is aware that he is doing this or not. 

        It's bitter-sweet to think maybe that whole city being taken over by an ancient reaching forest and its infectious mushrooms could be a good thing overall. You kind of WANT it to happen, even though it would be the end of you, too. 

    Maybe I sound like an eco-terrorist when I sympathize for a world without humans. Maybe someone else watching this film would have a completely different view of the overall message and would just see a horror movie and nothing more. I'm not saying one way is right or wrong. But it seems like the rest of the internet gives this film somewhere around a 6/10 so I don't think I'm saying anything outlandish or out of pocket in this review.

    But all in all, a decent film. I'd recommend watching it, unlike the Third "Hobbit" movie or "Drag Me to Hell" or "The Ruins." 

Thanks for stopping by.

More reviews to come!