Get ready for an Amazonian adventure of a lifetime. If your name is Percy Fawcett, you'll be so hooked you'll go back again and again. If your name is Everybody Else, you'll get to experience two and a half hours of the epic (and true) journey. Directed by James Gray and featuring the likes of Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland, this is one not to be missed on the big screen. 

Fun fact: when you Google search 'Amazon', the first results page is somehow entirely dedicated to Jeff Bezos's global online giant Amazon. But long before online shopping and Google Maps and SatNav, 'Amazon' referred to a giant rainforest in South America. (It's still a thing, Google!). It was vastly undiscovered, unmapped, and full of legend and mystery. Enter Percy Fawcett, a military captain whose chance to prove himself by leading an expedition in turn led to his obsession with finding a lost city...called 'Z'. After finding evidence pointing to an unknown ancient civilisation, he made it his mission to discover it.

Taking place over approximately 20 years, the first thing to note about The Lost City of Z is the sheer scope of it. It's a very English period drama, it's a trek through the murky rivers of the Amazon with tribal encounters, it even somehow crams in war scenes from World War One. What is this film!? The result is a longer-than-long running time but each setting is vastly different and impressive, with no compromise on quality. The scenes of family life are often just as compelling as those in South America, whilst those in turn act as a liberating break from societal standards during the age of the British Empire. It's no fast-paced Indiana Jones adventure, but it has all the raw ingredients from a real-life jungle drama, as Fawcett ditches his loved ones to go and explore, and when he's out there he's facing piranhas, cannibals, sneaky survival tactics and other deadly dangers.

Benedict Cumberbatch apparently signed onto the role during the earlier stages, but it's Charlie Hunnam (not Brad Pitt FYI) who takes on the mahoosive Amazonian challenge. He's famous for Sons of Anarchy, Pacific Rim and very nearly playing the role of Christian Grey, but it's The Lost City of Z that gives him a lot of Leading Man Time for a brand new audience. He commands attention, speaking slowly and carefully, much like how he treads through the lush but mysterious green leaves of the jungle. Credit to Hunnam (not Tom Hardy, either) for delivering wisdom and managing to portray a fascinating character we totally root for, even if he is reckless and arrogant at times. The film presents him as an honourable hero, fair and fearless; a man people can relate to even if his story seems like the stuff of legends. However, and this isn't Hunnam's fault or maybe it is, I didn't feel the full extent of an adventurous spirit came across. Instead, it's more like he is easily riled and spurred on by others. The 'journey to self-discovery' becomes intermingled with the journey to find this lost city, and soon you can't have one without the other.

Charlie Hunnam may be good, but it's a great Sienna Miller who steals the show as Fawcett's wife Nina. They're both shown to be different to their peers at the time - Nina represents a triumph for women and a strong role model. Utterly loyal and patient, she's also refreshingly independent and integral to the plot. From the start, she's complaining about wearing a corset (woo!) and there's even a bit where she wishes to accompany her husband on his travels, but oh no - she can't cos she's a woman (boo!). Miller is a British icon who isn't always first known for her acting, but this role could be the performance of her career and firmly marks her as one of the best British actresses around. Other noteworthy performances are given by an unrecognisable beardy Robert Pattinson as loyal companion Corporal Henry Costin who gets all the cool dry one-liners, and Tom Holland as neglected son Jack who goes from public enemy number one to number one fan in the biggest U-turn since last week's Budget...

Have I mentioned that this is a lengthy film? Nope? The editing is good, though not perfect as it gets a little choppy (with big leaps through time even though Hunnam barely ages).  My biggest critique is its often slow pace, but the pace does pick up during confrontations and attacks. Watch out for the gripping river scenes - and one which involves singing. Yepp. The cinematography is awesome, immersing you in the depths of uncharted land and it's really cinematic so you should really check it out at a cinema.

The story has been passed down through tribes and historians, eventually taking the form of David Grann's bestselling book The Lost City of Z. At a StudioCanal screening with an expert panel discussion, Grann spoke of how Fawcett was ahead of his time, a pioneer for adventurers today, and how if he were alive today he'd be into Anthropology. The interactions with the indigenous tribes (cruelly labelled 'savages' in England) are some of the highlights. I won't reveal any spoilers (I managed to avoid reading up on history before watching it and I'm glad), but it is a bittersweet journey and not a scripted success where the Lost City of Z is found on the last attempt and everyone rejoices. The last act, which feels like it's the start of a new film,  is beautifully put together and a well-crafted conclusion, if you can call it a conclusion.

I'd never heard of Percy Fawcett before watching The Lost City of Z, so this was, for me, a piece of lost history. I feel enlightened now that I've found it.