"The largest organism on the planet just right here waiting, and it's ready to spread."

Gaia encompasses an injured forest ranger on a routine mission who is saved by two off-the-grid survivalists. What is initially a welcome rescue grows more suspicious as the son and his renegade father reveal a cultish devotion to the forest. Eco-horror has become more popular over the past couple of years. It's one of those sub genres of horror that I've been ready to watch once I even hear about it, regardless if it's supposed to be good or not. Gaia had its premiere at SXSW gaining decent reviews and acclaim for its cinematography. To start off, this is a beautiful movie to look at. The shots are well thought out and mind-bending. With every eco-horror movie, there's also some body horror to go with it. The prosthetics are really cool with this. It takes fungi and makes it pretty and horrifying at the same time. There's a good amount of colors that pop out from the rest of the darkly lit screen. The sound design is also very effective. For horror movies, the technicals behind it all are crucial, and the team behind this knew what they were doing here.

What fails mostly is the structure. There are great parts throughout. The intensity is always heightened from the minute it starts. Seconds in, we're already straight into it. It's one of those movies that just starts. Part of me wanted to like the structure, but I feel like a cold open or a build up of sorts would've benefited here. The characters are thrown in and we know nothing about them. Characterization is really weak which is a shame. Once they do expand upon them, it either feels too overdone or doesn't make much sense. Getting past that, the story is decent. I was always interested in what may happen. The concept is pretty good. I'm not sure what happened though. The delivery felt underwhelming. As the movie goes, it's not bad, but it's just not that great. The delivery just doesn't work as well as it could. It could be the script or the direction, but there was a disconnect somewhere. Each aspect, though, has something good. For what it is, it's good filmmaking. Some scene are well directed, and it's especially shows through with the camera work. And the script has some thought provoking elements, more so towards the end. I don't know. I wanted more out of Gaia by the end. It plays out in a way you'd think it would. If you are to watch it, watch it for the camera work and prosthetics because they are the true screen stealer.