Fire on the Amazon

R.J. O'Brien arrives in the Bolivian Amazon to document the rainforest and its people. He comes to understand the struggle around Rafael Santos's nonviolent union movement. His assignment quickly places him at the center of a conflict among indigenous communities, rubber tappers, and cattle ranchers.

Chato warns O'Brien about Santos and the rising threat against him. Santos is killed at his family home in what seems a calculated attack. Chato frames the conflict as Indians against rubber tappers, with cattle ranchers financing the land rush.

At Santos's funeral, the community protests in a moving display of solidarity. Gloria Santos claims she saw a policeman at the scene, hinting at state involvement. Father Benacio conducts the service as tensions between factions flare.

O'Brien is drawn into the movement when he and Alyssa Rothman attend a gathering at Mr. Lucavida's house; he shows up uninvited and is sent to the door. Alyssa explains her rainforest preservation work and the community's stake in the case. The interaction marks O'Brien's reluctant entry into the story.

That evening at a cantina, a pistoleiro confiscates O'Brien's film, denying him crucial footage. The theft foreshadows the power of forces trying to control information. O'Brien's access to the truth becomes a bargaining chip in the conflict.

During a Pedrosa interview about the timber industry, O'Brien is seized by police-led pursuers and taken hostage alongside Djamori, the accused Zingari. Djamori is captured first, and O'Brien is interrogated about his ties to the case. Alyssa is called in to verify his story.

Alyssa bails him out, and at a later press conference O'Brien accuses the authorities of attempting to frame Djamori. The accusation raises the stakes and pits the journalist against the official narrative. The event aligns him further with the movement's cause.

Two days pass and Djamori is found dead in his cell, officially reported as a hanging. The death threatens to derail O'Brien's investigation. He and Alyssa worry about deliberate cover-ups and the sabotage of evidence.

While pursuing leads, they stop to help a burning house and rescue a boy named Antonio. They then encounter Ataninde, who is transporting Djamori's body for funeral rites, and decide to follow him in a dugout canoe. A pistoleiro tails them and shoots O'Brien in the shoulder, forcing a dangerous escape into the rainforest.

While in the Zingari village, O'Brien photographs the fatal blows that demonstrate Djamori's murder. That evening, during a funeral dance, Alyssa and O'Brien share a hallucinogenic drink that unlocks a dangerous intimacy between them.

Next day, Valdez intercepts their newly developed photos and traps O'Brien in his hotel room with a planted bomb. Alyssa arrives just in time to free him before the device detonates, exposing fresh tensions between the police and the rainforest movement. The close call solidifies their alliance and resolve.

During the standoff, Valdez shoots Alyssa at close range, risking the movement and the journalist. The community forms a human shield to prevent arrests and demand O'Brien's release. Ataninde then takes Valdez hostage to force O'Brien's release and stabs Valdez to death; O'Brien carries a wounded Alyssa to safety as they plan a flight out of Bolivia.