{{short description|2020 psychological thriller film}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox film | name = Mosquito State | image = Mosquito_state.jpg | alt = | caption = Poster | director = Filip Jan Rymsza | producer = {{plainlist| * Filip Jan Rymsza * Włodzimierz Niderhaus * Alyssa Swanzey }} | screenplay = {{plainlist| * Filip Jan Rymsza * Mario Zermeno }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Beau Knapp * Charlotte Vega * Jack Kesy * Olivier Martinez * Audrey Wasilewski }} | cinematography = Eric Koretz | music = Cezary Skubiszewski | editing = {{plainlist| * Andrew Hafitz * Bob Murawski * Wojciech Janas }} | production_companies = {{Plainlist| * Royal Road Entertainment * WFDiF }} | distributor = {{Plainlist| * AMC Networks (USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) * Kino Świat (Poland) }} | released = {{Film date|2020|9|4|Venice|2021|8|26|United States|df=yes}} | runtime = 100 minutes<ref name="venice">{{cite web|url=https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2020/out-competition/mosquito-state|title=Mosquito State|website=La Biennale di Venezia|date=23 July 2020|access-date=17 August 2020}}</ref> | country = {{Plainlist| * Poland * United States }} | language = English }}

'''''Mosquito State''''' ({{langx|pl|'''Komar'''}}) is a 2020 Polish-American psychological thriller<ref name="screen daily">{{cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/shudder-acquires-venice-selection-mosquito-state-for-north-america-uk-australia/5160248.article|title=Shudder acquires Venice selection 'Mosquito State' for North America, UK, Australia|website=Screen Daily|access-date=3 June 2021}}</ref> film co-written, directed, and produced by Filip Jan Rymsza. It stars Beau Knapp as a "Wall Street genius who becomes the willing host to a colony of mosquitoes".<ref name="new york times">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/movies/mosquito-state-review.html|title='Mosquito State' Review: Bugging Out|website=The New York Times|date=26 August 2021|access-date=26 August 2021|last1=Catsoulis|first1=Jeannette}}</ref>

A review in ''The New York Times'' called it "a disquieting merger of body horror and social commentary... pierced by moments of disturbing beauty".<ref name="new york times"/> The film had its world premiere on 4 September 2020 at the Venice Film Festival,<ref name="venice"/> where it won the Bisato d'Oro for Best Cinematography.<ref name="the first news">{{cite news |title='Mosquito State' director of photography awarded at Venice Film Festival|url=https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/mosquito-state-director-of-photography-awarded-at-venice-film-festival-15623|website=The First News|agency=PAP|date=12 September 2020}}</ref>

==Plot== Richard Boca is a Wall Street analyst who has developed an algorithm he believes will make him rich. His near-obsessive fascination with flying insects, and especially his study of the behavior of bees, has led him to develop the "Honeybee" analysis model, which can be used to predict developments in financial markets. After a dream, he decides to develop a new analytical model, based on swarms of mosquitoes.

Richard meets Lena, an attractive young woman who funds her studies by working at a wine bar, and brings her to his apartment. He lives alone in a penthouse with a view of Central Park. Swarms of mosquitoes have infested his residence, and Richard soon begins to swell up from their stings.

When he goes back to work, Richard is covered with insect bites from head to toe. He exhorts his colleagues to stop trading if they don't want to further destabilize the market, but his warnings go unheeded. Richard withdraws to his apartment and starts feeding his own body to the mosquitoes.<ref>{{cite web|title='Mosquito State' Film Review: Wall Street Needs Some Insecticide in Creepy Drama |url=https://www.thewrap.com/mosquito-state-film-review-venice/ |website=thewrap.com |date=26 August 2021 |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title='Mosquito State' Review: A Finance Bro Lets Bugs Eat Him Alive in a Wall Street Horror Story |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2020/09/mosquito-state-review-beau-knapp-1234584301/ |website=indiewire.com |date=5 September 2020 |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title='Mosquito State': Film Review: Venice 2020 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/mosquito-state-film-review-venice-2020-4054646/ |website=hollywoodreporter.com |date=5 September 2020 |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref>

==Cast== * Beau Knapp as Richard Boca * Charlotte Vega as Lena del Alcázar * Jack Kesy as Beau Harris * Olivier Martinez as Edward Werner * Audrey Wasilewski as Sally the Secretary

==Production== {{Unreferenced section|date=September 2021}} Filip Jan Rymsza directed the film and wrote the script together with Mario Zermeno. After ''Sandcastles'' and ''Dustclouds'', it is the third feature film by the Polish-US filmmaker and short story writer. Production began in August 2018 on film stages in Warsaw, Poland and later continued on location in New York City.

==Release== On 3 June 2021, it was announced that AMC Networks acquired distribution rights for the film and that it would premiere on 26 August 2021 as an exclusive on Shudder, their streaming platform.<ref name="screen daily"/>

===Critical reception=== ''Mosquito State'' received mostly positive reviews from film critics. It holds {{a or an|{{RT data|score}}}} approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on {{RT data|count}} reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mosquito_state|title=Mosquito State|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}}</ref>

Jeannette Catsoulis from ''The New York Times'' made it her Critic's Pick, calling it "a disquieting merger of body horror and social commentary. ''Mosquito State'' has a dreamlike, almost dazed quality, pierced by moments of disturbing beauty. Admirable for its total refusal to ingratiate, the movie nurtures an unapologetically hostile vibe that gradually relents alongside Richard's deterioration".<ref name="new york times"/>

''The Guardian'''s Phil Hoad gave the film four out of five stars, calling it "thrillingly alive... a torrid, original tone poem to late capitalism".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/aug/25/mosquito-state-review-wall-street-markets|title=Mosquito State review – a torrid, original tone poem to late capitalism|website=The Guardian|date=25 August 2021|access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref>

===Accolades=== ''Mosquito State'' had a world premiere as an Out of Competition, Official Selection at the 77th Venice Film Festival, where The International Association of Film Critics awarded it the Bisato d’Oro for Best Cinematography,<ref name="the first news"/> citing it as "A masterful work that gives life to a Kafkaesque reality, rendering us unable to escape our dreams and nightmares. A film full of metaphors and visions that, thanks to its photography, gives strange, but decisive and extreme, emotions".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000681/2020/1/|title=Venice Film Festival, 2020 Awards|website=IMDb|access-date=14 September 2020}}</ref>

It was nominated for Best Film in the Official Fantàstic Competition and awarded for Best Special Effects (Maks Naporowski, Filip Jan Rymsza, Dariush Derakhshani) at the Sitges Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sitges |url=https://sitgesfilmfestival.com/eng/noticies?id=1003633 |website=sitgesfilmfestival.com |date= |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|tt12789540}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes|mosquito_state}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1y_vcmRuI4 Official trailer] at Shudder

Category:2020 films Category:2020 psychological thriller films Category:Polish thriller films Category:American body horror films Category:American psychological thriller films Category:2020 English-language films Category:2020 American films Category:Films about mosquitoes Category:Films scored by Cezary Skubiszewski Category:English-language thriller films Category:2020 Polish films