SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!
An injured forest ranger on a routine mission is saved by two off-the-grid survivalists. What is initially a welcome rescue grows more suspicious as the son and his renegade father reveal a cultish devotion to the forest. When their cabin is attacked by a strange being it’s clear there is a far greater threat in this unrelenting wilderness.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Gaia Video Summary
Gaia Plot Summary and Synopsis
Gabi and Winston, two employees of South Africa’s forestry service, are travelling along a river in the Tsitsikamma forest when Gabi loses the drone she is controlling. Gabi decides to enter the forest, retrieve the drone and rejoin Winston later, saying “we can’t just leave our trash here.”
While walking through the forest, Gabi triggers a trap set up by two people living in the forest, which leads to a wooden stake piercing through her foot. Gabi removes the stake and heads deeper into the forest, which is soon covered by a red glow as night falls.
She comes across a wooden house, and enters the house and lies down to recover from her injury. Barend and his son Stefan, two survivalists who live in the house, find Gabi resting in the house and treat her injury.
Winston hears Gabi scream as she pulls out the stake, and he heads into the forest to look for her, but is unable to find her. After night falls, he encounters strange creatures in the forest, and becomes infected by a rapidly-growing fungus while hiding from the creatures.
Throughout the film, Gabi grows close to Stefan, and she also experiences nightmares that involve fungi growing from her body, later finding patches of fungi growing on her arms and legs.
She learns from Barend that he used to be a plant pathologist who started living in the forest after his wife Lily died of bone cancer thirteen years prior, and that Stefan was conceived in the house, which was where they had their honeymoon. Barend then states that he met “God” while in the forest.
On the next night, Gabi is almost infected by a similar rapidly-growing fungus while sleeping, but she is saved when Barend wakes her up due to the creatures trying to break into the house. The creatures break in, and are revealed to be ordinary humans covered with fungus.
Barend explains that the fungus infects humans and feeds on the eyes, mouth and lungs, and that they infect other people via spores. He also explains that the largest organism on the planet lives close to the house and is looking to spread, saying: “She was here long before the apes started dreaming of gods.”
The next day, Gabi finds Barend’s writings, which compare humanity to monkeys in captivity. Barend provides offerings to a tree, which contains the previously-mentioned organism, and both he and Stefan eat some of the mushrooms growing in the tree.
Barend and Gabi start heading out of the forest when Gabi finds Winston’s flashlight, and they find Winston, who is now covered with several species of fungi. Winston, who is still alive, begs them to kill him, and Barend does so. The noise attracts the attention of the creatures, forcing Barend and Gabi to return to the house.
Stefan takes Gabi to see his mother, who has been transformed into an animate tree, and still has her wedding ring on one of her transformed fingers.
Gabi goes through the photos stored in an SD card from one of the cameras she and Winston placed in the forest, and finds that several of the photos show the creatures. Barend reveals in a rant that he believes the world is doomed due to humanity’s actions.
Gabi tries to convince Stefan to come with her to the city, but fails to do so. She begins heading back to civilization, and Barend decides to sacrifice Stefan to the organism. Gabi realizes what has happened, and she returns in time to stop Barend from sacrificing Stefan, injuring Barend in the process. Barend is later shown with the fungus growing from his back and offering his own blood to the organism.
Gaia Ending
Some time later, Gabi becomes infected by the fungus, and her body becomes covered with it. Stefan leaves Gabi’s body in the house and heads to an unnamed city, where he has a meal and then leaves the restaurant.
The leftovers of his meal quickly become covered with fungus.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).
The Ending Explained
The protagonist is dead, while the fungus creature has been successful in spreading itself into the outer world.
Cooncel Rating
Source: © Cooncel.com.