I enjoy period pieces, and I enjoy exploration/adventure tales. This film has both of those things. The fact that this is based on a true story makes it all the more compelling. To go along with the Heart of Darkness-style journey through the dangerous Amazonian jungle, there are deep undertones of very relevant concepts from today’s social climate (genderism, racism, intolerance). Or maybe this film shows that those concepts are not all that modern. They’ve been around for thousands of years, and we’re only now starting to get closer to addressing them. But the events of this movie take place a century ago. How far have we really come since then? Are we still searching for something that seems so attainable, but which is always just beyond our grasp? There’s a line by Fawcett’s wife that hits on this so meaningfully. It encapsulates the whole film wonderfully: “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.”

3.5 out of 5 stars