Gaia, 2021
This is a South African thriller and ecological horror movie that under the production and direction of Jaco Bouwer, from the screenplay of Tertius Kapp.
Cast Lists
Monique Rockman performed as Gabi
Anthony Oseyemi performed as Winston
Alex Van Dyk performed as Stefan
Carel Nel performed as Barend
Narrative
Winston and Gabi are two employees of the South Africa’s forestry services and were travelling along the river in Tsitsikamma woodland when Gabi lost the drone she was controlling. Gabi settled to come into the forest, retrieve her drone and rejoined Winston later, after saying: “we cannot just leave the trash here.”
While they were walking through the woods, Gabi triggered the trap that leads to the wooden stake piercing by her foot. Gabi takes away the stake and headed deeper into the forest, that was covered soon by the red glow as the evening falls. She came across the wooden house, and comes in to take some rest and recovered from the injury. Stefan and Barend, the two survivalists that had set up a trap and who dwell in the house, locate Gabi is resting inside the house and treated the injury.
Winston heard Gabi scream as she pulled out the stake, then he heard into the woods to search for her, but was not able to locate her. After the evening came, he encountered some odd beings in the woods, and became infected by the rapidly-growing fungus when they were hiding from the odd creatures.
Gabi grows being close to Stefan. She also encounters nightmares that involved fungi rising from her own body, later seeing patches of the fungi that grown over her legs and arms. She discovers from Barend wherein he was a former plant pathologist who began living in the woods after Lily, his wife died of cancer of the bone thirteen years prior, that Stefan had been conceived in the home, which was where Lily and Stefan had their love celebration. Barend then stated that he meets “God” while he was in the woods.
Then Gabi was almost infected by the same rapidly-increasing fungus while asleep, but she was rescued when Barend awakens her up because of the creatures that were attempting on breaking into their house. The creatures shattered and were revealed to as ordinary humans covering with fungus. Barend explained that the fungus infected the humans and feeds over the eyes, lungs, mouths, and that they infected some other people also via spores. He explains that the biggest organism over the planet dwells close to their house and is searching to spread, saying that “She was here even before the apes began dreaming of gods.”
Writer’s Notion
This is another indie and eco-horror type of movie. Gaia was significantly better in both the story and the visual effects. As with most of the eco-horror, the encounter here was like taking some mushroom and then tripping the whole time. The movie was overloaded of breathtaking and creative visual effects. The longs scenes in the movie were enthralling where you can see the main characters were on their long trip. The styles and appearances of the creatures of the movie were all good, even though the camera had been a little shaky and not clear when they emerged.
The story is wise, but it was not anything new. Their major theme was about the nature claiming back the place itself. The movie was an environmentally commentary on human being since the business evolution. Still, there had been a really good twist in the story, and the viewers will surely enjoy it up to the very end. But, the story did not always come as one logically. It felt that the movie concentrates much on its visuals that it pushes the borderline more to style more substance.
