Mosquito State Review (Film, 2021)
content warning: blood, drug use (discussed), gore, nudity
Mosquito State is a new horror film from writer/director Filip Jan Rymsza and writer Mario Zermeno. It smashes together corporate horror, body horror, psychological horror, and outsider horror into a fresh exploration of the parallels between humanity and the animal kingdom. The mosquitos of the title are just as important to the story as the human characters, and that should be enough to scare you.
The opening credits are stunning. The footage flips between illustrated notes and diagrams about mosquitos—the credits appearing in various corners of the screen around them—and hyper realistic animation of a mosquito’s lifecycle. It starts with its emergence from an egg, breaking free with a great amount of effort, then slowly growing as it legs and wings become usable over time. It eventually breaks free of the fully animated world and flies into the streets of New York City. This beautifully animated mosquito is now experiencing the world for the first time, trying to find a meal. It winds up in a high class business party where we finally start to meet the human cast of the film.
The unfortunate first victim is our protagonist, Richard. He is the socially awkward genius behind the success of a Wall Street investment company. He’s finally convinced to come out of his shell and attend the quarterly celebration and spends his time quietly keeping to himself as the rest of the party descends into drugs and alcohol. He’s rescued by Lena, who also doesn’t feel like she fits in with this culture. Eventually, Richard reveals the disturbing trends in his research: the numbers in his program and the insects in his apartment are behaving in irrational patterns he can’t begin to explain.
Filip Jan Rymsza’s Mosquito State is a beautiful horror film. It plays at the stylistic intersection of American Psycho, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), and The Neon Demon. The beauty of the world is captured around the aggression and horror of humanity. The audience is meant to feel like an outsider seeing it all for the first time. We are not the brokers or even Richard, but the mosquitos surveying the land, trying to do anything we can to find a way in.
The dialogue and costuming are intentionally performative. Everyone onscreen has a job to do and a role to fulfill. No detail can be overlooked, and no line can be crossed without consequence. It’s a great conceit to build tension quickly. You’ll instantly know when something is wrong because the players onscreen feel human.
The entire reason Richard doesn’t fit in is his inability to stick to these arbitrary standards. He struggles to stay in a suit, the only one constantly readjusting his clothes out of place throughout the day. Anything he can’t predict or control throws him off. While never specifically stated in the film, he is clearly meant to be neurodivergent and actor Beau Knapp does a great job capturing this without feeling exploitative.
Mosquito State is a fresh look at a well-worn metaphor of sci-fi and horror. Comparing human behavior to insects is nothing new. Rymsza’s approach is the best take on this concept since David Cronenberg’s The Fly. It visually runs laps around most contemporary horror films. It is the kind of challenging, deeply cerebral horror film I like to dig into and reflect on. You won’t easily shake this one off after watching.
Mosquito State is streaming on Shudder.
