Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Mosquito State’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the motion picture, ‘Mosquito State’.
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We are taught from a supremely young age, that chasing the American Dream is an American expectation and it makes sense as to why. Because this is after all, the land of the free, where opportunity awaits on every corner and that kind of freedom and openness exists because of the sacrifice of our soldiers and the work of our founding fathers. So, to not give America our very best when the time is right, is something of an insult and if by chance we give this great nation our all, then we can truly enjoy its spoils. The kind where we are surrounded by wealth and happiness and notoriety untold. Because our success and obtaining of the Dream, makes us a beacon to others to do the same since we transform into more living proof that dreams come true in the United States of America.
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In fact, that mantra is so enticing and so powerful, that we quickly latch onto it and live by it the instant we have a taste of independence. But what’s truly fascinating about this concept and everything it stands for, is that we quickly question it once we really go after it. Because we begin to see what this quest can transform some people into, and we also start to learn that collecting money and things also has a negative impact upon the minds and psyches of those who make it their priority and those discoveries leave us questioning the Dream and its endgame and whether or not it is right for us and often times we abandon it and go our own way. But what happens to the people who chase the Dream to completion only to discover what we have uncovered? Do they walk away and use those riches to live in comfort in a different manner or do they try and push ahead and see if their epiphany will fade? Well as it turns out, those fascinating questions and that unique possibility serve as the focal explorations of a brand-new horror film on Shudder, Mosquito State.

Now in this particular film, we are transported back to New York City in 2007 to meet a unique individual named Richard Boca. A man that is a mogul on Wall Street because of his brilliance with math, for he wrote an algorithm that has netted his firm a ridiculous amount of money and his reward for this incredible creation… is a life of comfort. For he has enough money to afford an entire floor in his posh apartment building and he is even able to enjoy having prepared meals brought to him on daily basis. But once a rather aggressive trader at his firm begins to play with his algorithm, Richard begins to have great concerns about what he is doing with his life. For clearly, his creation and what it means to the world means nothing to his firm and that leaves him listless and broken and wondering as to whether or not the time has come to change the algorithm to do something different, something primal, in order to keep the bloodsucking mosquitos away from his life’s work. 

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Which is at first glance, a plot that appears to be not be grounded in horror in the slightest. After all, what does terror have to do with Wall Street and visuals involving mosquitos? But the fact of the matter, is that this is genuinely a horror film through and through, one that definitely lands under the brand-new ‘elevated horror’ subgenre that is slowly coming to life in the horror world. Because this one requires some serious thought since it is filled to the brim with powerful metaphors both visual and underlying but once those metaphors become clear, you realize you’re privy to a terrifying awakening. One that explores those very questions posed earlier since Richard does indeed begin to realize that this isn’t the life he wants and that he is nothing more than a blood bag that rich and powerful mosquitos suckle from on a consistent basis, leaving him in a lost and terrified place where he doesn’t know what do.
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Which is a wonderful way to explore the horrors and the trappings of money and fame since we watch this realization play out in real time, complete with the terrifying desolation that would infect one’s mind when that reality becomes clear. If anything, that makes this a slow burning horror film, one that absolutely uses silence and subtlety to make the viewer as uncomfortable as possible and the wonder of this film doesn’t end there. Because it also takes the time to explore what good people might do when they realize that money has transformed them into something they never wanted to become and, in this instance, it involves fighting back and teaching the system the lesson in humility it deserves. Which does give the viewer some sense of hope and satisfaction that not everyone can be lost to money and its spoils and that perhaps a day will come when the American Dream is something more than chasing bags of cash. 

In the end however, this is simply a thinker of a horror film, one that quite frankly… might put off some viewers when they initially tune in. Since there is no big monster waiting in the wings, outside of capitalism, nor is there really any gore to this film. But this reviewer asks that you stick with it, because it has a lot of powerful things to say about our world and what we value, and it also features some genuinely uncomfortable and unsettling moments both meta and realistic and all of those elements make this particular horror film a triumph, really. Because at its core, it features something that is a genuine staple of the genre, commentary on a problem in our world, and you can never go wrong with a horror story that takes the time to start an important conversation and challenges who we are and where we are going.

‘Mosquito State’ is available to stream now, exclusively on Shudder.

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