Most movies about explorers follow a pretty predictable script. A guy in a dusty hat goes into the woods, finds a gold idol, outruns a boulder, and comes home a hero. The Lost City of Z isn't that movie. Honestly, it’s much weirder and way more haunting than that. James Gray’s 2017 film, based on the non-fiction book by David Grann, is a slow-burn masterpiece that asks a really uncomfortable question: What happens when an obsession becomes more important than your own family?
It’s a gorgeous film. Visually, it’s a knockout. But beneath the emerald green canopy of the Amazon, there’s a deep sense of dread. You’ve got Charlie Hunnam playing Percy Fawcett, a real-life British artillery officer who became convinced that an advanced civilization once existed in the Brazilian jungle. Back in the early 1900s, this was considered heresy. The Royal Geographical Society basically laughed at him. To them, the indigenous people of the Amazon were "savages." Fawcett, however, saw pottery. He saw complex agriculture. He saw "Z."
The Real History Behind The Lost City of Z
The movie sticks surprisingly close to the facts of Fawcett’s life, though it compresses several decades into a two-hour-and-twenty-minute runtime. Fawcett wasn't just some random guy looking for gold. He was a surveyor. His first trip to the Amazon in 1906 was actually for the purpose of mapping the border between Brazil and Bolivia. It was a job. A dangerous, mosquito-infested, "please-don't-die" kind of job.
While he was out there, he started finding things. Small bits of broken ceramics. Stone carvings. These weren't things that "primitive" tribes were supposed to have, at least according to the racist anthropology of the Edwardian era. This is where the obsession started. It's also where the movie gets interesting because it positions Fawcett as a man ahead of his time in terms of cultural respect, yet completely behind the curve when it came to being a present father.
He left his wife, Nina, played by Sienna Miller, and his children for years at a time. The film doesn't shy away from the cost of that. We see the toll. We see the kids growing up while their father is halfway across the world, nearly dying of starvation or being shot at with arrows. It’s a brutal look at the ego required to be a "great man" of history.
Casting That Actually Works
Robert Pattinson is the secret weapon of this movie. Seriously. This was right around the time people were starting to realize he was a phenomenal character actor and not just the guy from Twilight. He plays Henry Costin, Fawcett’s aide-de-camp. He’s unrecognizable behind a massive, bushy beard and a pair of spectacles. While Hunnam’s Fawcett is the burning sun of the film—intense, driven, almost vibrating with purpose—Pattinson is the cool, grounded moon. He provides the pragmatism that keeps the expeditions from falling apart immediately.
And then there’s Tom Holland. He plays Fawcett’s eldest son, Jack. The dynamic between them is the emotional heart of the final act. Jack starts out hating his father for his absence, but eventually, he gets infected by the same fever. The same dream. It’s a tragedy in slow motion. You want to yell at the screen for them to just stay home, but you know they won’t. They can’t.
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Why the Amazon Looks So Different Here
Director James Gray made a bold choice: he shot the movie on 35mm film. In an era where everything is digital and crisp and sterile, The Lost City of Z feels organic. It’s grainy. It looks humid. You can almost feel the dampness coming off the screen.
The cinematography by Darius Khondji is intentional. He uses a lot of natural light, which means the jungle isn't a bright, neon-green playground. It’s dark. It’s golden. It’s often shrouded in mist. This helps the movie avoid the "Indiana Jones" vibe. There are no supernatural curses here. The "monster" in this movie is just the environment and the limits of the human body. People get malaria. They run out of food. They get tired.
- The film captures the 1906, 1912, and 1925 expeditions.
- It highlights the sheer difficulty of river travel before modern GPS.
- The production actually filmed in the Colombian jungle to maintain authenticity.
- The script uses actual letters and diary entries as inspiration for the dialogue.
Addressing the "White Savior" Critique
One thing people often worry about with colonial-era movies is the "white savior" trope. The Lost City of Z manages to sidestep a lot of this by making Fawcett's primary motivation the validation of the indigenous culture, not the conquest of it. He’s trying to prove that these people built something magnificent. He wants to tear down the Eurocentric view of the world.
Does he still have a colonialist mindset? Sorta. He’s still a British officer. But the movie is smart enough to show that the jungle doesn't care about his rank. The indigenous tribes he encounters aren't just background dressing; they are portrayed as people with complex social structures and deep knowledge that Fawcett is only barely beginning to grasp.
The film also gives Nina Fawcett a voice. In the early 20th century, a woman’s role was incredibly restricted, but Nina was a real intellectual partner to her husband. The movie includes a scene where she wants to go with him, arguing that her physical stamina is just as good as his. He refuses, and the movie sits with that unfairness. It doesn't pretend that he was a perfect, progressive hero. He was a man of his time, flaws and all.
The Mystery of the Final Expedition
The ending of the movie—and the real story—is what keeps people talking a century later. In 1925, Fawcett, his son Jack, and Jack’s friend Raleigh Rimell vanished into the Mato Grosso region of Brazil. They just disappeared.
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Over the years, dozens of explorers have died trying to find out what happened to them. Some theories suggest they were killed by a hostile tribe. Others think they succumbed to disease or starvation. There’s even a wild theory that Fawcett stayed and founded a "secret commune." James Gray’s film handles this with a poetic touch that is honestly much more satisfying than a hard answer. It leans into the mysticism.
The movie suggests that maybe they found what they were looking for, or maybe they just became part of the land they loved so much. It's a beautiful, haunting sequence that stays with you long after the credits roll.
Science Eventually Proved Fawcett Right
Here is the kicker: Fawcett was actually right. Not necessarily about a city made of gold (the "El Dorado" myth), but about the existence of large-scale urban settlements in the Amazon.
Recent LIDAR technology—which uses lasers to see through the dense tree canopy—has revealed massive networks of roads, bridges, and plazas in the Xingu region. These weren't small villages. They were "garden cities" that housed thousands of people. Fawcett’s "Z" was real; he just didn't have the technology to prove it to the skeptics back in London.
How to Watch It for Maximum Impact
If you’re going to watch The Lost City of Z, don’t expect a fast-paced action movie. It’s long. It takes its time. It’s a movie about the passage of time and the way a single idea can consume a whole life.
- Watch it on the biggest screen possible. The scale of the jungle deserves it.
- Pay attention to the sound design. The buzzing of insects and the rushing of water are constant, creating a sense of total immersion.
- Read the book afterward. David Grann’s book goes into much more detail about the "Fawcett Fever" that gripped the world and the specific clues he left behind.
- Look up Kuhikugu. This is the actual archaeological site that most closely resembles what Fawcett was looking for.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Lovers
If you loved the themes of obsession and exploration in this film, there are a few things you can do to dive deeper into this specific sub-genre of cinema and history.
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First, check out Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God. It’s a huge influence on James Gray and deals with a similar descent into jungle madness, though it’s much more surreal. Second, look into the work of Michael Heckenberger, the archaeologist who actually found the evidence of the "garden cities" Fawcett suspected. It turns the movie from a tragic mystery into a vindication of a man's life work.
Lastly, take a moment to appreciate the "slow cinema" movement. In a world of 15-second TikToks, a movie that asks you to sit and breathe in the humidity of a South American rainforest for two hours is a rare gift. It’s not just entertainment; it’s an experience.
Explore the film's soundtrack by Christopher Spelman as well. It uses snippets of Stravinsky and Ravel to evoke the "Old World" that Fawcett was leaving behind, creating a perfect sonic contrast to the wild, unstructured sounds of the Amazon. It’s a masterclass in thematic scoring.
If you're looking for a film that stays with you—that makes you think about your own legacy and the things you're willing to sacrifice for a dream—The Lost City of Z is essential viewing. It’s a rare big-budget movie with a soul, a brain, and a very broken heart.
Next Steps for Enthusiasts:
- Deepen the Context: Read David Grann’s original book, The Lost City of Z, to understand the harrowing details omitted from the film, such as the "bug" infestations and the specific navigational math Fawcett used.
- Compare Historical Epics: Watch James Gray’s other works, like The Immigrant or Ad Astra, to see how he consistently explores the theme of men searching for meaning in vast, unforgiving environments.
- Geographic Research: Use Google Earth to look at the Upper Xingu region of Brazil. Seeing the modern landscape helps ground the film's 1920s setting in reality.
- Support Amazon Conservation: The "Z" Fawcett sought is part of a delicate ecosystem currently under threat. Researching organizations like the Amazon Conservation Team can provide a modern connection to the land portrayed in the film.