The prophecy of a worldwide spiritual awakening gradually begins to come into focus in director Armand Mastroianni and screenwriters James Redfield, Barnet Bain, and Dan Gordon's sweeping adaptation of James Redfield's best-selling novel. John Woodson (
Matthew Settle) was a high-school history teacher before the loss of his job left him disillusioned and facing an uncertain future. When John is contacted by ex-girlfriend and journalist Charlene (Robyn Cohen), who is currently in town on a brief layover after covering a story in Peru, the pair arrange to meet for dinner and Charlene explains that she has just returned from a remote Eden known as Viciente, where scholars are currently studying a mysterious set of eight ancient scrolls. It was there, continues Charlene, that she came into contact with a priest named Father Jose, who explained to her that the scrolls contain a prophesy written before the birth of Christ and foretell a coming time of enlightenment that will redefine life in the 21st century. Though at first skeptical, John is compelled to book a flight to Peru when Charlene states that she appears to have been drawn to him by a higher power, and a travel brochure on Peru appears in his mailbox the following day. A subsequent encounter with a professor who is also on John's flight and has been studying the scrolls reveals that the scrolls were written in 5 or 6 B.C. and buried in a wooden box that was assembled in the 1600s. Though there was, according to legend, a ninth scroll, it has yet to be recovered. A late-night stroll on the streets of Lima soon leads John into the company of Father Jose, who later disappears after a frightening encounter in which a high-ranking operative holds the priest at gunpoint while insisting that he reveal the location of the lost scroll. Later led to Viciente by the guide who was with Father Jose when the cleric discovered the scrolls, John is haunted by dreams of a remote paradise and a young child, setting into motion a spectacular series of events that will ultimately culminate in a transformation of light that promises to reveal the future of humanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide