Director: James Nunn
Year: 2026
Country: United Kingdom/USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Nature-Run-Amok
Plot:
Arriving in the Louisiana bayou, a group of friends joins a special swamp tour exploring the area with several other locals, but when the boat capsizes in the middle of the expedition find themselves stalked by a rampaging hippo bent on killing them all and must get away alive.
Review:
Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable genre effort. Among the better elements of this one is the rather fun setup that provides this one with a generally strong starting point that allows this one to work incredibly well as adapting this specific storyline. The early stage of this one, going through the group getting together and exploring the city before the exploratory trip through the bayou, serves to provide the necessary background on the group while setting them up for the trip that gets them stuck in the middle of the swamp. This manages to bring about the stellar way they all get stranded as the ship runs aground and throws everyone into the water, and the resulting rescue scenes of everyone getting the others to safety while avoiding the rampaging hippo in the area help to bring about the solid second half series of escapes. The swamp's atmosphere, the encroaching darkness of night, and the creature's relentless nature all come together incredibly well here.
Those rampaging attacks here are quite fun when they occur, giving this a solid and straightforward approach with the way its relentless attitude and ferocity make for a fun time. The opening sequence in the water, where the boat capsizes and starts to sink, forcing them to get to safety and pull the others out while getting away from the rampaging creature hunting the river along the way, is a really strong way to go about this, bringing the film into a great storyline where the frantic nature of trying to get out of the water while the creature swarms around grabbing stragglers is a fun time. Later scenes involving the hippo stalking the group through the jungle grounds or looking to trap them inside the abandoned ruins along the bayou are a lot of fun, making the whole thing come together incredibly well when combined with the use of a realistic creature mentality here regarding how the attacks are structured. It all comes across as incredibly natural and normal-feeling, especially in the early stages when they first encounter the animal, and come together for a lot to like here.
There are a few drawbacks to be had here that bring this one down. The main drawback featured here is the confusing lack of tone this has with the attacks, as the frequency makes everything quite fun, but the type of content is where this falls just short. The type of realistic, grounded attacks here, with the group being chased through the swamp, are usually kept to a realistic type of stalking sequences featuring an angry, explosive animal appearing anywhere it wants, yet others are the kind of over-the-top and ridiculous when trying to trap and derail the creature during the finale. This difference in approach is rather awkward, especially when the straightforward seriousness of the rest of the film tends to take centerstage, making it stand out even more. As well, it also manages to highlight the series of normal contrivances associated with the genre, from poor decision-making simply to get them in contact with the creature, a lack of explanation for why the creature is in the area to begin with, and trying to get through the lack of information on the background members of the group, and with the lackluster CGI here, brings this one down.
Overview: ***/5
A really solid and likable genre effort, there’s a lot to like here, which keeps this one going, even though there are a few minor drawbacks to this one that are enough to hold it down. Those with an appreciation for this style of genre fare or who are fine with the issues on display will have a lot to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.
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