Lo desconocido: La cueva de los huesos

The subject in itself is very interesting, which helps the documentary, which is also very well produced.

However, I felt that scientists seem too passionate about the subject to give a more balanced or less biased opinion.

In addition, at a certain point the chief scientist passes by a cave location and makes an incredible discovery. However, how many did not pass by there? How could they not see?

The life and culture of Homo Naledi seemed too romanticized to me, with a lot of speculation and no dissenting voices.

That's why everything in the documentary seems to me to be partly scripted, disclosing possibly previous discoveries as if they were made in front of the cameras.

I did enjoy this because I was interested in the subject. I wanted to see the bones, hear what the actual physical discoveries were, etc.

What I got instead was an attempt to tell a story that seemed more for entertainment than actual scientific hypothesis.

There were also some truly concerning moments like when the supposed head of archeology for the project suddenly asks (in the middle of doing measurements) "are we measuring in centimeters or millimeters?" Shouldn't that be well established at that point?

The animations were completely unnecessary and much too speculative. Generally there was way too much romanticizing of these ancient creatures. I don't like the tendency to project a spiritual or religious meaning onto everything they did.

It almost feels condescending. Like they thought the viewers would be bored with pure science so they had to embellish it like a Disney movie to get people interested.

Note- I am not a religious scholar of any sort. This documentary gave me shivers and reminded of something I read ages ago. There is a mention of creatures other than humans in the Islamic book of Quran and they were called "jinn". According to Quran, they were created before Adam and Eve and were responsible for cultivating and improving the world. Jinn are said to inhabit caves, deserted places, graveyards and darkness. Jinn are supposed to be composed of thin and subtle bodies. According to Sakr2 they marry, produce children, eat, drink and die but unlike human beings have the power to take on different shapes and are capable of moving heavy objects almost instantly from one place to another. They had families and societies.

There are numerous references to jinn in the Qur'an and Hadith (sayings of Prophet Mohammed). According to Islamic writings, jinn live alongside other creatures but form a world other than that of mankind.

Interesting. The "scientists" seem so eager to show off for simply speculating this and that and constantly talking about a huge moment for the history of humanity... No it is not. And the luck of scientific approach! Omg. Even the excavation is sloppy. Didn't expect much from Netflix but this is annoying.

What has happened to facts nowadays... To watch scientists present themselves as so emotionally involved and stunned by their own assumptions is making me feel dubious about the true motives about that project. Even the kissing of the skull from the scientist during the press conference is so cringy.

In order to review this movie you need to consider how good it is in terms of filmmaking and also the validity of the scientific claims that are being made. I've been interested in evolution and paleontology my whole life and have seen countless documentaries on this subject. It's very difficult to lay out a complex story in an hour and a half so I realize that we're not going to see all of the little details required to actually prove what they're saying. I would like to have seen more evidence that the rock they discussed is actually a stone tool but it's obvious that these creatures used tools to make those very distinctive carvings. It also seems certain that they did in fact bury their dead which certainly means that they weren't as primitive as they might have appeared with their small brains. So it was informative as well as entertaining for those of us who are interested in science and definitely worth watching.