As the film opens, we are gliding along the Amazon River toward someone perched along the shore. This is Karamakate [...] a shaman in the jungle, and one of the last of his people. He is being approached by Theo von Martius (inspired by Theodor Koch-Grünberg), a German ethnographer and his assistant Manduca, an Amazonian man in European dress. Theo has fallen ill, and the many shamans who have tried, but failed, to cure him have pointed him in the direction of Karamakate, who they believe can heal Theo with a sacred entheogenic plant called yakruna. As the three begin their journey up the river to find the plant, the film quickly moves forward in time. Karamakate is now an old man, once again living in isolation, but the extreme toll of being the sole heir of his peoples’ memories has caught up with him. He is now visited by Evan, an American (inspired by famed ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes), who once again convinces Karamakate to head out in search of yakruna. Source: Allen, Ian. Review of Embrace of the Serpent. Comparative Education Review vol. 63, no. 4, November 2019, pp. 658-659.
