‘Beware Boiúna’ Stars Jessica Rothe and Kiana Madeira Talk Horror and Journeys

Our own Junior Felix sat down with Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) and Kiana Madeira (Fear Street) to discuss their newest horror film Beware Boiúna (2026).

Felix praises both actresses as he discusses the perseverance and relentlessness of their characters that help make up the movie. Admiring their ability to “kick ass again” as final girls, Felix mentions the importance of such a renaissance happening within the horror film genre and how it is prevalent through both Rothe and Madeira’s own past films Happy Death Day (2017) and Fear Street (2021).

Focusing on Jessica Rothe, Felix asks about the big year she has ahead, as he jokingly asks about the common theme of being trapped in a river in both Beware Boiúna (2026) and River (2026). Laughing at the question, Rothe shares that if felt as though it was a situation where “the world is trying to teach you a lesson,” joking she must’ve had some demons to confront within the water throughout her time filming.

On a more serious note, however, Rothe mentions how incredible the experience was for each film, stating that “there is kind of a beautiful unexplored horror that takes place with rivers, with large bodies of water.” She calls attention to the fact that the ocean has been explored a lot within horror, especially in shark movies, but that Beware Boiúna (2026) brings a new terror of being trapped with an unknown creature “whether it’s in the jungle, whether it’s a snake, whether it’s a masked man.”

“It was really, really fun. And I know so much more about boats than I ever thought I would now.”

As for Kiana Madeira, Felix talks about the incredible evolution of her character throughout the film, emphasizing the struggle throughout their journey. When asked about the journey and whether there was an ability to relate to her character in the film, Madeira says that she “definitely” related to Lena, stating that “she often feels like or felt like she didn’t belong anywhere.” 

She goes on to talk about how director Mike P. Nelson and she both collaborated to ensure that when bringing Lena to life, they were very culturally specific. Emphasizing the importance of knowing Lena was raised by the Jaguardi tribe in the jungle after her parents were killed, Madeira states, “I wanted to really add in that she also comes from a Colombian parent and a Brazilian parent,” especially knowing they intersect within the Amazon and wanting to ensure they were not culturally specific to one thing. 

She elaborates on how this isolates her character, Lena, as she struggles with running away and dissociating rather than being somewhere and feeling like you don’t belong, to which Madeira says, “I definitely can relate to that being of mixed race heritage myself,” reinstating how important it was for her to bring that to Lena. 

“I love the way it was written in terms of her arc and the evolution that she gets to go on. I love that. I mean, not the best-case scenario to have to go through such extreme circumstances to really accept the fact that where you grew up embraced you all along. Sometimes it really is in our own minds, in our own resistance, that really holds us back from being embraced.”

With final praises shared for the film and character journeys, Felix congratulates them on an amazing film and shares his excitement for audience reactions to the movie

Watch Beware Boiúna October 2nd in theaters.