Burn your maps. Why would I do that? Who would ever burn their maps? Wait, you are telling me that is not a tip, that is a movie? Why does it have such a weird name? Are you sure that is a movie?
The main character was played by Jacob Tremblay. You might know him from Wonder, but before he became really famous, he played in Burn Your Maps. Vera Farmiga played Alise, his mom. Martin Csokas played Connor, the father of the family. His face is recognizable, Csokas played in Lord of the Rings. Ismail, the main character, was played by Suraj Sharma. And here is the ironic and surprising thing I found out about his filmography. He played in Life of Pi. Now, I know, it isn't something really extreme or edgy, but these are probably signs that I should watch Life of Pi after the book review. The director and writer was Jordan Roberts. The type of movie is dramedy, comedy and drama put together.
You may see an ad here. If you would like to support the website, click on them twice. Thank you! :)The plot is about an American boy called Wes who thinks he is Mongolian shepherd. Although I would be kind of disturbed by this fact if Wes were my son, I think in the movie it is kind of childishly cute. Anyways, after a presentation at school where he told everyone about Nomads of Mongolia and how he is one (it was a very R-rated presentation, not going to lie). He pretended to cut out a heart of a goat and sang a prayer of Mongolian Nomads. At that time he meets Ismail, who is his mom's student at ESL school. The thing with Ismail though is that he is a filmmaker and arrived to USA because he wanted to record some mmm... inappropriate videos. But we won't go really into the topic. Ismail is one of the few supporters of Wes. He decides to fund Wes and his trip to Mongolia. So out of 20000$ they raised, they got 24000$. That is insane! After a little bit of fighting with his dad Connor, his mom Alise and he decided to go to Mongolia. They also took Ismail. That is when we really start getting surprises. It seems like in his last life, Wes was a Mongolian. I mean, he can ride horses just fine, like a native Nomad, he can take goat births and he knows some Mongolian. I know, he explains it by YouTube, online courses and genuine interest. But how does he even know at the age of 8 that Mongolia is such an interesting country with quite rich history. Most boys at the age of 8 just watch some YouTubers and play Xbox or PlayStation. This is surprising to me. But this American family is not the main thing in my opinion. Of course, they are having a good life and all and Wes is just a decent human being compared to some other kids. But what I really must mention is Mongolia itself.
As you might know, Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia surrounded by Russia and China. They had a pretty tough guy called Genghis Khan as their Khan. In early 1200s he attacked Russia (that is what I know for sure) and made everyone except for himself poor. Also, another thing you might know about Mongolia is that they have really, really beautiful and vast landscapes and the Mongolians are also mostly Nomads. Basically, they farm, pray for the dead, believe in afterlife myths and etc.. Mongolians have tents as their houses, they have animals and although they are quite modern in some cities, there are still places for you to camp at and hang out with the natives. That is exactly where our main character goes with his mom and Ismail - to hang out with the natives. During this time, I gotta mention, Alise and Connor, the parents, are having marriage troubles. They lost their 6-month-old daughter, although Mongolians say they found her and lost themselves. I will definitely be looking and reviewing some Mongolian history and culture because "Burn your maps" definitely comes as a gentle reminder to do that.
Did you know that the location of the filming of "Burn your maps" was not Mongolia. It was actually all filmed in Alberta, in Canada, North America. So if you want a choice here, go to whichever one of those is possible for some nature and good time! Also, the top critic of Los Angeles Time rated this movie above 50% (can't really look at rating in such reviews in Rotten Tomatoes) and said:
I would say, this movie is not for everybody. While one might like a movie just for your heart, not full of plot twists and just family-friendly, the other person may want to go for something that sounds more exciting and hyped, like Ready Player One. I would rate the movie a 8/10 because it is not for everybody and it is PG 13. Parents recommended with strong caution.