January 13, 2023 – This documentary film follows the trials of a troubled war veteran who raises an orphaned ocelot kitten in the Peruvian jungle in order for the ocelot to be reintroduced to the wild and for himself to be reintroduced to civilization.

Documentary filmmakers Trevor Frost and Melissa Lesh travel from the Amazon rainforest, to England and to the United States to cover the drama in the lives of the ocelot and the two people who care for it, Afghanistan war veteran Harry Turner and research biologist Samantha Zwicker.

Samantha runs Hoja Nueva, a wildlife rescue and research center in the Peruvian Amazon. Conditions at the remote station are challenging enough that most volunteers and researchers only last a couple of months before leaving. British war veteran Harry Turner is made of sterner stuff, however. Used to harsh conditions, he sticks it out.

Suffering from depression and PTSD from his war experiences, Harry had fled to the jungle to get away from the pressures of civilization. He constantly fights suicidal thoughts and cuts himself during bouts of anxiety. Samantha, however, intuits that Harry would be the perfect person to attempt something not done before, raise a rescue ocelot kitten so it could be reintroduced to the wild.

Harry's first project, raising an ocelot kitten named Khan, worked very well for both Harry and Khan, until Khan was killed by an illegal trap. Harry went into a deep depression and was inconsolable at Khan's untimely death, consumed by anger and hatred towards whoever set the deadly shotgun trap.

Harry gets a second chance when another rescue ocelot kitten named Keanu is brought to the station. Once again, Harry bonds to the kitten, but is constantly worried about all the danger in the jungle from illegal hunting, mining and logging operations, along with dangerous animals, and even poisonous arachnids.

Harry's previous experience with Khan gives him some confidence that he can successfully guide Keanu to become an independent, wild ocelot again. The movie shows Harry patiently teaching the ocelot how to attack and eat rodents, squirrels, and small caimans for hours during both night and day. Ocelots often hunt at night.

The movie also explores the family backgrounds of Samantha and Harry, which provides some clues as to why they are together romantically in the jungle. Samantha is working on her PhD and has to travel back to the United States several times. Harry's family comes to the station to visit him and to see the environment in which he works. They come away impressed.

Harry becomes increasingly agitated and upset when it comes time to cut ties with Keanu and let the cat return to the wild. Samantha becomes increasingly worried about Harry, whose mood swings are becoming disturbing and destructive. She talks about her own troubled family history and how it relates to her relationship to Harry.

Filmmakers Trevor Frost and Melissa Lesh have captured both a compelling human story and a wildlife story. The jungle is a scary place, with many dangers, but even darker dangers lie deep within the human soul, and both are explored in this film. This was a difficult film to make, made even more so because Melissa Lesh had to undergo brain surgery while it was being filmed.

As you would expect, this film features many cute animals, as well as scary ones like caimans (a member of the alligator family). The ocelot kittens are especially cute. The film benefits from a large selection of wildlife videos and photographs taken on location. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff (no extra charges apply). I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2023 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at