The Nest is a 2021 American horror film about a mother who becomes suspicious that her daughter may be infected by a parasitic creature. She is thrust into a nightmare as the people she trusts most push her into a chasm of drug addiction, self-destruction, and devastating sacrifice.
Directed by James Suttles (The Evil Inside Her) from a screenplay written by Jennifer Trudrung. Produced by Tamara Hopkins, James Suttles and Matthew R. Zboyovski.
The movie stars Dee Wallace (Await the Dawn; Red Christmas; Cujo; The Howling), Sarah Navratil (Proximity), Kevin Patrick Murphy (A Dark Place; Jacob’s Ladder). and Drez Ryan.
Reviews:
“Taking notes from classics such as The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Suttles feature drips with dread and does well at expanding its mythology as it goes along. The practical effects are also a sight to behold and hark back to films like The Hidden […] This is very much a body horror masquerading as a family drama.” Bloody Flicks
“I stared disappointingly at my beers and snacks while the mundane dialogue and lack of action ploughed slowly away on the TV in what felt like the longest movie ever made. Dee Wallace is in it and that made me smile but little else did, and its low budget certainly showed in a ton of wooden performances. I imagine there may be a good film in there somewhere if you are willing to invest the time…” Coles84
“The Nest has some interesting ideas but […] I needed to see more of the creatures to really inflict the fear factor or have the impact of their host takeover be felt wider than just the insular family and their councillor. The lack of a threat, be it to the outside world or the internal struggle between host and parasite, meant the film climaxed with a fizzle rather than a bang.” Horror Cult Films
“It kind of takes you back to eco-horror films from three or four decades ago, but there is nothing exaggerated or tongue-in-cheek here: these bugs are neither mutant nor drawn to cleavage. When special effects are called for, they are terrific: palpable and gruesome, and somehow grounded in real biology […] The Nest felt a little too long to me at first, but looking back, I cannot see what could have been reduced.” Horror Obsessive
“The Nest is a horror-thriller that turns the creature feature on its head with the inclusion of the demon factors, showing us just how the changes could easily be the same as any demonic possession movie, with the whole film taking place within the family home, adding to the evil that is changing things.” Movies Review 101
“Despite an overlong running time and occasionally suffering from the restraints of its low budget, The Nest […] is a haunting and sometimes flesh-crawling experience enlivened by some pleasing practical visual effects and a sense of ambiguity in relation to the nature and purpose of the parasite creature itself. The film takes its time and there are certainly some pacing issues yet it’s never boring…” Starburst
“Unfortunately, at an hour and forty minutes, The Nest runs long. It’s long on talk and doesn’t always have the atmosphere to keep from feeling like a Lifetime drama. Quite a bit of the film involves Beth being manipulated and gaslit by her now infected loved ones […] When The Nest does trade talk for effects, the results are excellent.” Voices from the Balcony
“While The Nest is quick to let us know roughly where it is headed, it only gradually fills in the details, generating real tension from our unfamiliarity with the precise nature of its Body Snatchers scenario. This slow build leaves the viewer plenty of time to notice the accumulating indicators of an alternative, more psychologically grounded reading of what is going on.” VODzilla
Release date:
In the USA, The Nest will be available exclusively at Redbox from July 6, 2021, and then on Digital, On-Demand and DVD July 20th from 4Digital Media.
Cast and characters:
Dee Wallace … Marissa
Sarah Navratil … Beth
Kevin Patrick Murphy … Jack
Drez Ryan … Ashe
Blaque Fowler … Nick
Anna Lynn Holleman … Mrs Jean
Penny Munroe … Billie
Maple Suttles … Meg
Piper Suttles … Child at the Window
Technical details:
100 minutes
Original title:
The Bewailing
Notes:
Not to be confused with the killer cockroach film The Nest (1988). Or the 2020 film of the same name with Jude Law and Carrie Coon.
Related:
The Pit aka Teddy (1981).
MOVIES & MANIA says:
The Nest takes a while to develop and sometimes feels more like a warped domestic drama focused on parental angst than a horror film. Thankfully, the gradual creepiness and Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style abnormality eventually kicks in and genuinely disturbing elements and icky imagery take over.
Meanwhile, the performances from all the main cast are uniformly excellent. Overall, The Nest could certainly have been tightened up slightly via a few judicious minor edits for better pacing.
