Mosquito State

If there was a social commentary in this movie, I missed it. It DID remind me a little bit of "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka but everything else was lost on me, I'm afraid. Guess I'm just not as cerebral as I thought. If you want to be aggravated and/or frustrated then you may want to watch this movie; after all, it IS pretty to look at and the music is adequately ominous and brooding, anything else it meant to say only ruffled my hair on its way over my head.

OK then ... one star for the somewhat unusual idea. One star for the terrific cinematography. And one star for this film's ability to hold me until the end, to see what the outcome might be. Tempting as it is to take away that last star, I'll leave it there, But rarely do I agree with nearly all the other reviewers like I do now. If there were allegories or metaphors or allusions or anything else instructive here, I missed it completely.

It's like The Fly & Creepshow's They're Creeping Up on You had a baby and named him by a Margin Call.

I LOVE When Animals (Insects) Attack movies and fully support indie films, especially when ambitions such as this. First off, this movie LOOKS GORGEOUS. Head to toe, this movie looks like Ex Machina Meets The Fly. In visuals, plus setting.

But, sadly, it's still just an experiment. I wish the best for these filmmakers. I love how this looks and was shot, but I actually need something more than a prototype.

Obviously mentally ill, but genius Richard Boca woos a woman the same night a mosquito finds its way into his billion-dollar penthouse overlooking Central Park, NYC. He's an analysist for Wall Street and sees horrible things coming in the late 2000s. Also, he's infected with his new friends/roommates, the mosquitoes.

I wanted to love this movie further, but DAMN. For every gorgeously shot scene, there's the "Indie Feel" with light substance. Only one or two characters barely comment on our main character's sudden and disturbing swollen face from his new CGI mosquito roommates he keeps well feed/stocked. And those people being so indifferent...I don't buy it and took me right out of the movie.

If you're a film student, study this for cinematography and acting. Both are top notch. Sadly, the experiment does not pay off and you're left wondering: How Did This Get Made?

***

Final Thoughts: This DID reinitiate my interest in tighty-whities. I love when an actor can wear some onscreen. Shows real balls. So to speak.

Straight up, don't waste your time even if you like pretentious art house films. This one is shot quite nicely, lovely visuals. That's about all I can say about that.

Acting, eh. Lead is not bad, but since the film is so bizarre, yet ultimately so dull and lacking in any sort of payoff the actor's attempts at an odd, 'super intelligent' savant type weirdo are just that, odd.

I know it was set before the 2007 stock market crash and supposed tomake some sort of statement about futility seeing the future and being a small organism that should return to its ecosystem or some nonsense. Whatever! It was dull, made no sense, had no payoff with all the mosquitoes, the girl, the jerks at work or the huge deformities on his body. Boring.

Mosquito State is one more film that had the potential to be good and just ended up as a big bore, even annoying.

The cinematography and visual effects, along with sound effects are stunning . A proper brooding atmosphere is created ............and then nothing much happens.

Beau Knapp is a great actor, but why was he instructed to play this role as some variation of Quasimodo ? He is the worst part of the film and also the largest part of the film. As has become the new thing in film, he seems to have been told to do everything as slowly as possible. His performance here is career ending bad, almost a caricature.

I have no idea what this film was even about. Taking place during the financial and housing bubble of 2007, there isn't much about this that turns it into horror except the millions of CGI mosquitos and a not well done grotesque make-up job on Mr. Knapp.

If you hate bugs this may give you nightmare's, but there is nothing scary about the story, if it even had a story.