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“A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished.”
There is ZERO doubt in my mind that this movie was inspired by Cannibal Holocaust. Eli Roth is an AMAZING director and actor. So I knew I had to watch this.
There are a LOT of real world themes here. Yes, there is a lot of mining/pillaging into native cultures. And there are a lot of younger generations that care about these topics. It hits the heart hard. We all want to be able to do something about some of the injustices in the world. But flying off blindly as a wide-eyed college student is not the best idea.
Peer pressure plays a lot into the beginning of this as well. We want to be included. We want to think we matter in this world. We have this pull to do what others see as “the right thing.” But that is the opposite of our brain that tells us “you might not live through this.”
When they come upon the black jaguar and say it’s a “good omen” they also mention that it is a protector of nature. While some people think they have the best in mind for nature, maybe omens like this are more of a warning.
“Now stand out, and make history.” Sigh. Really? You think… well, you tried. There are great ideas but without proper investigation and research… they end badly.
This almost feels like the extreme of the influencer age. “Don’t stop filming!” It’s like they think that people who are in other beliefs or countries or thinking would give a flying fuck that you’re filming. They are there to do either what they are told or what they believe. The world is not Instagram.
They call the Amazon “the Green Inferno” because we cannot understand it’s complex and vast terrain or those who dwell within it. We have no way to understand the Earth or Nature as a whole. And there are those that maintain theier beliefs deeply rooted in the Earth.
Maybe you’re trying to “protect” something that doesn’t need your protection. For all their modern civilized tech and thinking, this group is taken down by a group of indigenous that simply know what keeps their people safe and prospering in their area.
The basics of “kill or be killed” and the rudimentary survival instincts are on FULL display here.
Let me say is now: I AM NOT CONDONING CANNIBALISM! That being said: If a tribe of people is grown and only known to that life, beware. Because it has kept them fed for ages. This is a REALLY hard watch in that aspect. Which is why it is such a good movie. Eli Roth doesn’t shy away from the fact that there are some places where time has stood still.
SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT
Is it ANY surpruise that the “save the world” dude was a complete douche? Yeah, no. Not at all. But we do get a good “final girl.” She’s smart, she’s virginal and she’s going to make it out of there no matter what!
Kill scene props go to:
- The tattoos. When they eat and then see the tattoos of their friend? YES.
- The ants. Let nature do what it needs to! (And he did say to go ahead and kill him)
- “Justine get me out of here!” Fuck off
Even the young of the tribe saw the jaguar wasn’t going to kill her so they shouldn’t.
And how perfect that she used the ONE tool, however broken, to survive.
