Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Scientists examine underground clues from over 250,000 years ago that raise questions about our early relatives — and what it truly means to be human.
This Netflix documentary explores the Rising Star Cave system and Homo naledi discoveries led by paleoanthropologist Lee Berger. The cinematography of the underground cave sequences is genuinely striking and visually immersive. The subject matter — ancient burial practices predating Homo sapiens — is scientifically provocative and raises compelling questions about the origins of human behavior. However, the documentary format follows fairly conventional talking-head and expedition structures, and the 'acting' category (applied here to on-screen presence and narration) is serviceable but unremarkable. The ending, while thought-provoking, leaves questions somewhat unresolved by necessity of the science itself rather than dramatic craft.