- A group of friends join a guide for a trek into the Bolivian jungle, searching for an Indian village. The men soon realize that the jungle is a difficult place to be.
- In the pursuit of self-discovery and authentic experiences, Israeli backpacker Yossi Ghinsberg meets a cryptic Austrian geologist in La Paz, Bolivia in 1981. Captivated by his engrossing stories of lost tribes, uncharted adventures, and even gold, Yossi decides to follow him, accompanied by his good friends, American photographer Kevin and Swiss teacher Marcus. Without delay they join an expedition led by their seasoned trail-leader, deep into the impenetrable emerald Amazon rainforest. However, as the endless, inhospitable jungle separates the inexperienced team, before long Yossi will find himself stranded in the depths of a nightmarish environment crawling with formidable and tireless adversaries. How can one escape this green maze?—Nick Riganas
- In 1981, the Israeli world traveler Yossi meets the backpacker friends Marcus and Kevin in Bolivia. After meeting the Austrian adventurer Karl, Yossi persuades his two new friends to join him on a jungle expedition. The trip provides the group with unique impressions, but when Marcus catches an infection in his sore feet and food supplies run low, Karl insists on stopping the expedition. However, Kevin and Yossi persuade him to continue the journey with a self-built raft. The group almost falls victim to a rapids, after which there is a quarrel and a split-up. Yossi and Kevin join forces to continue their journey on a raft, but crash on a rock. Yossi is swept away by the current and has to face a grueling struggle for survival in the wilderness, which brings him closer to a loss of reality. Kevin is rescued by locals and persuades a ferryman to embark on an uncertain search for his lost friend.
- In the early 1980s, an Israeli adventurer named Yossi Ghinsberg (Daniel Radcliffe) travels to Bolivia planning to journey into the heart of the Amazon rain-forest. He is looking for adventure and to meet new tribes and civilizations. There, he meets Marcus Stamm (Joel Jackson), a Swiss school teacher, and his friend Kevin Gale (Alex Russell), an American hiker and avid photographer. The three are staying in La Paz, at an Israeli community hostel. Yossi is out in the market one day where a stranger asks if he is an American; Yossi replies "no".
During conversation the Austrian stranger, Karl Ruprechter (Thomas Kretschmann), claims the existence of an indigenous tribe in the jungle that they should go see. Karl says he knows the jungle, and he is friends with the tribe. Yossi, excited about the prospect of exploring the uncharted jungle and meeting undiscovered peoples like the Toromonas, chooses to believe him. He heads back to the apartment to convince Marcus and Kevin to come along. Skeptical of the stranger and his story, they refuse. Yossi continues to press them until they ultimately acquiesce.
The next day, the trio meets Karl in a shop while he is gathering supplies for the hike. All three men are surprised when Karl leaves with the supplies and tells them they will pay for everything. Kevin is a photographer and is excited by the prospect of filming rare tribes that will get him straight into the National Geographic. Nov 1981, Yossi, Marcus, Kevin, and Karl hike through the jungle for several days. They encounter heavy rains (even though the rainy season is 2 weeks away). They make it to a village called Asriamas where it is apparent Karl knows the villagers. They spend the day in the village and stay overnight, then head back into the jungle the next morning. At night they cook and eat monkey meat.
Marcus starts having trouble walking and discovers his feet are full of bloody sores. By now Kevin and Yossi are tired of Marcus' complaining. Marcus is slowing them down and they need to be out of the jungle before the rainy season starts. Yossi, Kevin, and Karl discuss how they all should proceed. Karl wants to leave the three while he goes and gets help, but Kevin and Yossi disagree with that plan. At this point Marcus walks up, and Kevin proposes building a raft to navigate downriver so all of them can stay together. (This differs from Ghinsberg's actual account, where the four return all the way to Asriamas before deciding to make the raft with the help of the villagers.)
They build the raft and set off down the river. They hit some rapids, barely making it through. Karl gets upset at Kevin for taking control on the raft, floats the raft to shore, and says he is going hunting. Kevin had noticed Karl's fear of water and deduces that Karl cannot swim. Yossi then goes to find Karl, so he will not abandon them. Marcus and Karl decide to abandon the journey and make the three-day hike back to civilization where they can then return to La Paz. Karl had decided not to get on the raft again, and Marcus joined him as he didn't like how Kevin berated Marcus all through the trek. Meanwhile, Yossi and Kevin continue their journey downriver until their makeshift raft is destroyed in the rapids.
Yossi is washed away by the river, leaving Kevin behind. Without a knife, tools, or any kind of survival training, Yossi must improvise shelter and forage to survive. He begins to give up hope after losing all sense of direction, wondering if he will survive the jungle. Soon, the rains arrive, and Yossi is more than miserable. He manages to salvage his backpack from the river. He puts notes all across his trail just in case Kevin is following him. Yossi is attacked at night by a Jaguar, but he is able to fend him off with an ignited lighter fluid spray. Yossi also has a huge bulge in his forehead, which he spears to find a worm living inside it. He drains the blood and the sutures the wound with fire ants. He has to eat raw eggs (with partially developed fetuses inside) for nutrition. He reaches a settlement Curiplaya (which he was targeting on his map), only to find it deserted and nobody living there. The next settlement Rurrenabaque is several days of hiking away. Yossi has a rapidly worsening foot wound. Yossi reaches the river again and starts tracking it. Yossi imagines finding an abandoned native woman in the jungle. He feels responsible for her and protecting her gives him new strength to carry on and find a way out and survive. He falls into a swamp. He is able to climb out by grabbing a tree branch. By now Yossi is severely malnourished and has wounds all over his body. Yossi attempts to build a raft again, but has no energy left.
Meanwhile, Kevin is rescued by people from a nearby town who take him to Rurrenabaque, 120 miles from Yossi's location, Curiplaya. At Rurrenabaque, Kevin calls for the help of the local authorities to find Yossi. They fail to find Yossi via a plane flyover, but Kevin believes that Yossi is alive. Kevin ropes in the help of the local boat pilot Tico (Luis Jose Lopez) to search for Yossi, finally discovers his weakened friend after being in the jungle for 19 days and takes him to Rurrenabaque.
The epilogue reveals that Karl lied about the hidden tribes, was known to rope backpackers into dangerous treks, and was wanted by the authorities. He and Marcus never returned to La Paz and were never seen again. The film was dedicated to Marcus's memory.
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