Gaia

 Gaia is a decent little eco-horror film from South Africa that is notable for a) some truly gorgeous shots of the local jungle and b) featuring monsters that look like escaped The Last Of Us fungus people. The filmmakers protest they'd never even heard of the games until they were in the middle of production, and that they were inspired by the same Cordyceps footage from Planet Earth that inspired that game's designers.

 Which is reasonable, except that they then gave the fungus zombies in the movie the same clicking noises as in the games.

Can't be that big a surprise, the guy was clearly terrible at his job.

 In any case, the cordyceps-like fungus zombies are only a minor part of the movie, which mostly follows the misadventures of two rangers who get lost inside the preserve they're supposed to be patrolling. One of them is a dumbass who's almost immediately (and deservedly) consumed by the aforementioned fungus monsters, but Gabi (Monique Rockman) is injured by a trap and taken in by a father-and-son duo who've gone native and have been living in a rickety shack in the middle of the jungle for more than a decade.

 Gabi doesn't know if she's a prisoner, a prospective victim/sacrifice, or if she's free to go, which is not helped by the father (Cerel Nel) giving off some serious unabomber vibes. The son (Alex Van Dyk), meanwhile, has lived all of his life in the shack and is understandably attracted to Gabi.

 As weeks go by and Gabi heals, she learns a bit more of her hosts, of their relationship with the local monsters (who attack the shack every few nights, Minecraft-style), and of the weird religion the father and son share, one that's devoted to a bizarre local lifeform. Tensions escalate as she decides to go back to civilization, and to take the son with her against the father's wishes, and those of the entity in the jungle.

 It's a decent mix of elements which sadly don't entirely cohere into a satisfying narrative even when some overtly biblical themes are introduced. It's relatively interesting, though, and beautifully filmed - director Jaco Bower and cinematographer Jorrie van der Walt make good use of some gorgeous local scenery. The acting is pretty good, the monsters are great (though they barely figure in the story) and the effects are fine, especially for a low-budget movie like this one. It's never particularly scary or exciting, but there's a little bit of effective body horror, some minor psychodelia and some cool imagery, Just enough to make it worth your time, but maybe not enough to be remembered for too long.