Rating: 3/5
Hooptober 3.0 | 25/31 | Crazy Animal 1/3
It’s winter in NYC. Hundreds of children are dying from Strickler’s Disease. Schools lay empty, with memorials surrounding their gates. The CDC declares an epidemic. Two years in, they know cockroaches are spreading the disease but cannot find a cure or vaccine. Dr. Peter Mann, Deputy Director of the CDC, calls on Dr. Susan Tyler, Professor of Entomology at the New York State University, to assist.
Dr. Tyler and her team enter the sewers and introduce a genetically engineered bug into the ecosystem — a termite and mantid hybrid they deem the “Judas breed.” The bug releases an enzyme that accelerates the roaches’ metabolism, starving them to death within hours. They are also all female, to prevent their breeding and continued existence, and equipped with a suicide gene to make sure they die within 180 days. Six months later, no fresh cases of Stricker’s occur. Peter is thrilled about the fame they received. Susan is concerned with the ecological impact of introducing a new species into the world.
Three Years Later It’s raining in NYC. Reverend Harry Ping runs to the roof of his building. An unidentifiable shadow chases him. Once on the roof, he bolts the door behind him, trapping the shadow within. Harry leaps to some painter’s scaffolding just as the shadow breaks through the door. The shadow races to the building’s edge to find Harry hanging on to the swinging planks. The scaffolding swings, Harry loses his grip, and he falls into paint cans, spraying white paint everywhere, similar to the white secretion of the Judas breed.
A child named Chuy witnesses the fall. I guess he’s on the spectrum because the boy lists off the dead priest’s shoes. The shadow clicks and chitters outside, dragging Harry’s body into the sewers. Chuy recreates the clicks with two spoons. He mutters to himself about the funny shoes the shadow wore.
The following day, Peter and his assistant, Josh, arrive on the scene. They find three dozen people trapped below the church, all with yellow fever. Peter and Josh work to quarantine the area, hoping to contain the spread of the disease. Just below them runs a major sewer line. Josh finds fecal matter smeared and dangling from the ceiling. When he tests it, he finds coat buttons inside.
Susan meets with Remy, a colleague of hers. Two kids approach them just outside Susan’s office. They have an assortment of bug specimens. She shows them termites and explains how their colony thrives, protects territory, and relies on one fertile male to keep the colony going.
— Just imagine you’re one of them. — Eating furniture and stuff? That’s gotta suck.
The kids also sell her what they call a “weird bug.” Outside, the shadow watches them. Susan opens the box after the kids and Remy leave, finding a baby bug she can’t immediately identify. The bug snaps and latches onto her gloved hand. She pulls it off and pins the bug to an insect mounting board. A white foam emanates from the bug, and Susan realizes this bug is related somehow to the Judas breed.
We follow Susan and Peter as they investigate their findings. How is the Judas breed still alive? Who is this shadow, and what do they have to do with the Judas breed?
They were designed to die. They are breeding.
Like most of Del Toro’s movies, the movie explores hubris, where people overstep nature and face consequences. With Chuy, we also get the outsider who learns the way of a group and infiltrates them. With him and his father, we see the immigrant experience and how we ostracize what we don’t understand. We also touch on the juxtaposition between how animals reproduce in nature versus how humans have trouble getting pregnant.
The practical effects are superb. Norman Reedus’ specimen that he showed the team made me genuinely nauseous. The CGI effects are… fine.
F. Murray Abraham gets to show up and be right about everything all the time. I can’t help but wonder if he requests these types of roles after playing Salieri.
Once they get into the sewers, the movie slows down to an unbearable crawl. The sets are neat and they learn interesting stuff, but it’s not that fun to watch. I’m choosing to blame Harvey Weinstein.
Overall, I like a lot about this movie, but not as much the experience of watching it.