Dans l'inconnu: La grotte aux ossements

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.

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.

These individuals assume the Homo Naledi made this ritualistic climb in a cave to bury their dead. You're not geologists you're archeologists. The whole cave structure could have been different 250,000 years ago. They could have just walked in and walked out, yet you assume way too much with no solid proof. You want to spin a narrative to fit your story. You're scientists get data before you reach a conclusion. Early on you admitted the entrance of the cave collapsed, yet you have no geologists on your team to give you data for your hypotheses. Please look at all possibilities before televising documentaries that are purely speculative.

Not really worth a 600 word review unfortunately. But fine. This could have might have been an interesting or even fascinating anthropology discovery story as implied and stated by the producers in the trailer and description. But in reality there is very little science here. About 20 minutes in total - and that's generous - of the doc has science in it - about ostensibly a possible new genus Homo species these paleoanthropologists call Homo Naledi. The problem is it's just a small team from nowhere USA who haven't as of yet gained any national or international scientific corroboration of their find. They imagine a ton of wild theories about their discovery, all interesting but unfounded. So instead they spend a good hour or more filming things like "can this heavy-set man fit through a small cave opening?" Just not science.

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.