Embrace of the Serpent

Released Feb 17, 2016

2h 3m

Adventure

History

Drama

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Embrace of the Serpent: Trailer 1

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96%

Tomatometer

149 Reviews

85%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

In the early 1900s, a young shaman in the Colombian Amazon helps a sick German explorer and his local guide search for a rare healing plant.

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Critics Consensus

As rich visually as it is thematically, Embrace of the Serpent offers a feast of the senses for film fans seeking a dose of bracing originality.

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Mallika Khanna

Bitch Media

Crucial for global audiences to see.

Mar 15, 2021

Full Review

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

The Blue Lenses

While difficult to identify a single factor that renders the film such a remarkable achievement, at the top of any list would certainly be the central performances by Nilbio Torres and Antonio Bolíva.

Aug 25, 2018

Full Review

Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

Embrace of the Serpent is a mystical movie missile from Colombia. It's ballistic, balletic, sometimes brilliant.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 27, 2016

Full Review

Michael J. Casey

Michael J. Cinema

An adventure into the heart of darkness that is as prophetic as it is hallucinatory.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 9, 2021

Full Review

Toussaint Egan

Polygon

A powerful and poetic portrait of the effects of European colonialism and environmental despoilment.

Feb 25, 2021

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

...a hallucinogenic Amazonian odyssey...

Oct 28, 2020

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Benjamin T

Anyone who likes a decent adventure drama about the Amazon should watch this. I loved the acting, dialogues and how everything unfolded from one moment to another. It was a simple, straight-forward film with a decent plot and direction, unlike the typical BS out there (Barbie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, etc.)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/10/23

Full Review

Kit N

Phenomenal film from start to finish. Feels classic and refreshingly original at the same time. Impeccable cinematography and visually arresting scenes throughout. Simply a 'must-see' for anyone into cinema at its finest, or indeed, anyone with a universal appreciation for nature in their heart.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/23/23

Full Review

isla s

This is a somewhat engrossing watch - its slow moving, plot wise and yet there's a definite hypnotic sense to it. Its in black and white and with constant jungle/rainforest noises in the background, the sounds of insects, birds and so on. I liked seeing how the various tribes people communicated with one another - who they trusted and who they didn't. I suppose, to me, it felt like the main theme was isolation, that, false Prophets and self reflection. I suppose, in a sense, it makes us think about how we deal with or view outsiders perhaps? certainly the sense of being a fish out of water is present in this film. There's also definitely a philosophical edge to it, with some interesting, reflective type dialogue present. I thought it looked, visually, quite artistic, mystical even, with it being in black and white and I suppose that also gives it a timeless feel (Giving the setting of the film, its inevitably hard to tell when it was set). There is an unsettling, creepy feel to it at times too, with chanting heard in the distance - I wished for a little more visibility, colour to appear at such times. Its definitely a mysterious film in some such ways.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A unique and astonishing film that has to be seen.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Interweaving two different time scales, Ciro Guerra's sprawling epic focuses on an amazonian shaman who travels the river with two different german ethnologists, forty years apart as they search for the sacred Yakruna plant. Beautifully shot, the film takes you on a journey of discovery as well as one through the rainforest, as we see the full effects of dangers we wouldn't normally consider in our world; the ravages wrought by the rubber trade, or the damaging effects of brainwashed Christian brother clans deep in the heart of the jungle. A beautiful film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Quiero expresar que no soy un perro para ver un filme solo en gris, también estoy inconforme porque en ninguna parte la serpiente abraza a alguien.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

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Ciro Guerra

Director

Jan Bijvoet

Theo

Brionne Davis

Evan

Nilbio Torres

Young Karamakate

Nicolás Cancino

Anizetto

Luigi Sciamanna

Priest Gaspar

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Embrace of the Serpent: Trailer 1

2:16

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Synopsis

In the early 1900s, a young shaman in the Colombian Amazon helps a sick German explorer and his local guide search for a rare healing plant.

Director: Ciro Guerra
Producer: Cristina Gallego
Screenwriter: Ciro Guerra, Jacques Toulemonde Vidal
Distributor: Oscilloscope Pictures
Production Co: Buffalo Film Co., Caracol Televisión
Genre: Adventure, History, Drama
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 17, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 6, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.3M
Runtime: 2h 3m

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