Follows the frontline struggle to protect Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo—one of the most biodiverse places on Earth and home to the last mountain gorillas. The film shows rangers, civil-society activists, and local communities risking their lives to defend land, people, and wildlife from armed groups, political corruption, and multinational oil interests.

A central emotional force is the tender, familial bond between caretakers and orphaned gorillas—scenes of feeding, play, and quiet trust that reveal the animals’ intelligence and vulnerability. Their survival becomes inseparable from the survival of the community, making conservation an act of resistance against forces treating both people and ecosystems as expendable.

The documentary exposes SOCO International’s efforts to drill illegally inside the park through bribery and intimidation. The global attention generated by Virunga helped increase pressure on SOCO, contributing to its withdrawal—an important environmental-justice victory.

Today, the threats have escalated again. In 2024–2025, the armed group M23 overran areas around Goma and seized key territory, intensifying displacement and placing wildlife and communities at extreme risk. Their advance is tied to control of mineral-rich land—including resources essential to global tech supply chains—and continues to be linked to Rwandan state backing, deepening instability across eastern Congo.

This makes Virunga even more urgent. The rangers continue their work under life-threatening conditions, defending both gorillas and local communities as armed groups and multinational interests compete for land and minerals. The film shows how conservation, human rights, and anti-extraction struggles intersect, and how local defenders remain a critical line of protection despite overwhelming odds.