Gaia

The innovative visual effects, which combine CGI and practical makeup, are truly mesmerising.

A thought-provoking and disturbing experience.

Even when the story takes on biblical overtones, the melodrama never blossoms. And in terms of suspense, Gaia doesn't so much tighten the screws as endlessly turn them in the wrong direction.

Bouwer takes material that could have been laughable and makes it terrifying and intense.

As a feat of carefully imagined, economically realized world-building... "Gaia" compels to the end, making the most of the natural resources at its disposal while constructing its own dreamy, tactile visions.

After a while, the film's elaborate, often breathtaking special effects come to feel like it's only source of complexity.

This is rich and fertile soil for a tense movie, and one wishes that Bouwer’s approach tapped more into this innate fear rather than chasing cheap jump-scares. Gaia is the type of movie where an uneasy feeling would elevate the horror so much more.

Gaia suggests that civilization’s decay is inevitable, perhaps even deserved, though that doesn’t make its certainty anything other than terrifying.

This eerie new chiller from director Jaco Bouwer utilizes the tried-and-true creepy forest setting to great effect, sucking us into another bizarre and unsettling deep-woods scenario that melds mystery with the macabre.

On the whole, Gaia is an invigorating effort&#59; combining body horror, existential dread, and ancient monsters into a singular genre cocktail.