User reviews

Directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, Lali Houghton, and Jorge Duran, "The Lost Children" is a powerful and moving documentary that follows the harrowing experience of four young siblings who become lost in the vast and treacherous Amazon rainforest after a tragic plane crash. The film not only highlights the physical trials faced by the Mucutuy children but also explores the emotional and psychological impacts of their struggle.

The documentary begins with a concise introduction to the Mucutuy family, setting the context for their ill-fated journey from their isolated home near Araracuara to San José del Guaviare. The filmmakers expertly blend archival footage, interviews, and dramatic reenactments to craft a compelling narrative that draws viewers into a world divided yet united in the quest to save these young lives. Initially, the Indigenous people of the forest, who formed the rescue teams, did not collaborate with the army soldiers, leading to separate search efforts. However, as the weeks passed and the urgency to find the children intensified, both groups began to support one another, ultimately forging friendships. This search operation, dubbed Operation Hope, unexpectedly united the people of Colombia, showcasing a historic collaboration between soldiers and Indigenous communities that led to successful outcomes.

The directors have skillfully balanced the documentary's emotional depth with moments of lightness and warmth, while also addressing broader themes of loss, hope, and the resilience of the human spirit, resulting in a profoundly impactful viewing experience.

True account of four children surviving a plane crash that killed all the adults including their mother. The crash happen in the Amazon jungle and I can't imagine a worse place except maybe high up on a snowy mountain. The children leave the wreck and start walking. The Colombian government sends huge helicopters full of soldiers to try and find the children. The indigenous people send another group of volunteers. Meanwhile there are rebels inhabiting the jungle and the other two groups needed to stay away from them. We see mostly the two groups search under horrible conditions. Most of it is actual footage from the search and actual searchers telling their own accounts with some re-enactments. The sheer will it took to spend 40 days under these conditions, speaks to the resilience of the both the searchers and even more amazingly, the children. Well made documentary.

This movie was more interesting than I expected mainly because of its slick production and storytelling. The cinematography was superb, especially the jungle close ups and the beautifully lit interiors of the indigenous homes.

The story of the rescue was interesting in itself but was made more so by the slow revelation of earlier troubles in the family and the inclusion of a subplot about the tensions amongst the rescuers. The latter explored the interesting history of the troubled relationship between the indigenous population and the military. The filmmakers cleverly wove these different elements together in a way that kept me interested throughout.

I particularly liked the sequence towards the end where the eldest child recounts her experience of being lost in the jungle through a voice over and her delightful drawings. I found that quite moving.

Even if the story itself doesn't hold a lot of interest to you, the production and story-telling might. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is my first attempt at writing a review, driven by the profound impact of a documentary that has left an indelible mark on my soul. Each moment within it feels like a poignant whisper, a testament to the resilience and spirit of humanity rarely encountered. I cannot recall witnessing a story as gripping and full of compassion as that of these children and their rescuers, bound together by a connection that seems to transcend both time and space.

The narrative unfolds like a dance, where an entire community, as though moving with one heartbeat, joins in a search infused with hope. In this unity, the precision of technology and military expertise intertwine with the ancient wisdom of indigenous peoples. At the heart of this fusion, the spirituality and shamanism of native cultures elevate every act to an almost supernatural plane, as though nature herself extends invisible hands to guide them.

This documentary reminds us of the immense force of Mother Nature, that we are part of her vast tapestry and that within her we find both humility and the purest knowledge. In attuning ourselves to her primal rhythms, through instinct and intuition, we experience the reverence of being, in the deepest sense, children of the earth. To her, we owe all that we are-our very existence and our understanding.

May this story remain as an everlasting reminder of our essence. May it gently yet firmly recall us to our origins, to the truth that we come from the earth and to the earth we shall return, all the while belonging to a greater consciousness that enfolds and transcends us.

I loved how in this doco, a lot of issue were addressed from the accident to the ongoing problems in Colombia. The fact the the indigenous people and the Colombian army were working together was amazing. I'm so so happy the forth children are alive and together. I only hope the best of best for them. My heart roots for them. And thank you so much for everyone that was part of this amazing operation hope. I wish all the was issue of my country will one day cease. I hope for the vulnerable communities, to be safe, to be protected and helped in every way possible. As someone mentioned in the doco, we all have indigenous blood in our body. We need to care and helps each other.

I rated it a 10.

My husband said, "it was ok", but I thought it had several outstanding factors:

1). It was a TRUE story. I get so frustrated with "based on a true story" because you actually don't know what was actually true or not. This was downright true.

2) it actually had the REAL people, giving real commentary.

3) it used real footage

4). The jungle looked absolutely amazing (though a few too many spider/ant shots. Puts me right off.)

5) a bit of a glimpse into indigenous culture, which has always fascinated me

6) it's a wonderful story about very different people being brought together for a reason of good, working together, and learning to respect and appreciate each other.

7). It had a happy ending.

The biggest reason for the 10, though, is that it was REAL.

There isn't much of that in today's world.

You might say, "well ENTERTAIMENT" isn't supposed to BE real. It's supposed to provide an ESCAPE from reality."

But, actually, sometimes it's quite nice to know that REALITY is sometimes wonderful enough that one doesn't NEED to escape from it.

If you know what I mean. :-)

Netflix does not even come close to the great story of survival and resilience that the children lived through, nor how we as Colombians follow it day by day in the hope of their rescue. It bases its documentary on the usual, wanting to show and sell Colombia with the same old. It bases the rescue on the indigenous people, drug use, fantasy images and social problems of violence. It doesn't even come close to what "operation hope" represented for us as Colombians and overshadows the great effort of the Colombian army. Minimal scientific facts of the "Operation hope" are mentioned and instead a lot of fantasy. How sad. I It didn't even mention what Wilson (the dog) represented for us.

Karen C.

WOW! This documentary is deeply moving and brought me to tears. It's hard to even imagine the hardships these children endured. Their courage and resilience are nothing short of extraordinary. Surviving in the jungle for 40 days is beyond words. The film captures their journey in a way that's both powerful and inspiring, leaving a lasting impression.

Watching this also makes me think: the world would be a much better place if people from all races, religions, and ethnicities came together to uplift those less privileged. This film reminds us that, as a global community, we can and must do better.

Wow, I am shocked and stunned by the resilience of Lesley!

It shows how important it is to pass down ancestral knowledge at the young age. The girl, herself badly hurt, knew which fruits were edible, had to kill dangerous animals with the stick, and even managed to catch fish with an improvised rod. All while keeping alive 3 other kids including the baby, for 40 days, lost in a jungle. Her feat was simply incredible even by indigenous standards.

The end result is that they got justice by being protected from the family abuser! I hope they thrive in their life going forwards, they've been through so much and deserve all the love in the world.

I am so happy that the searchers did not give up! Their bravery, resilience and toughness were astounding. I am glad that we got to hear some of their life stories as well. They were real and tough, and not like typical documentaries where you would hear same old background stories of american cops with white privileged lives. Their stories are on another level, and I am happy that those brave men were given a platform to tell them. And not just given, they've earned that platform with their incredible feat.

Great documentary, with unexpected layers, twists and turns. The scenery is breathtaking! Highly recommended. I've cried and held my breath throughout. Nice job, Netflix! Please give us more stories like this, jungle rescues, with presenting lives of indigenous people.

This is not a regular documentary. Coming from Colombia, the undertones of decades of mistrust and lack of communication between the indigenous population and the "whites" is the actual driving force of the story.

The focus on the searchers and their conflicts (internal and external) makes this a piece of great storytelling.

There is a book about the event that speaks a lot about the beliefs of the indigenous on the creatures of the jungle and how those beliefs affected (positively?) the search.

It is a great story of different perspectives and views needed to solve a problem.

See it with open eyes, not thinking it is a Rambo-type movie. It is not.

It's great story itself , but also it's really well made movie that nice to watch even if you know details of story which usually hard to make when so many people was following . It's amazing to see it with eyes of rescuers . It's obviously emotional but it's not playing on your emotions just telling story . I saw some videos about this story and nothing came in compare . But only make you think how huge and fascinating our world is . About power of nature and rising a lot political and philosophical questions . Answering a lot of questions. Really enjoyed it . Maybe you need to see it multiple to catch all details.

40 days in the Amazon jungle! I'd probably last a week.

I think it's really amazing that a young girl of 13 could look after three children and herself for such a long time. I can't even imagine how scary it would be for anyone to survive in a forest without fire, drinking water, and food. And an 11-month-old child!

I don't know how much of the rescue attempt is true and whether the dramatic retelling of what happened can be fully trusted, but it's the human equation in the incident that is inspiring. The fight for survival is deep-rooted in our DNA.

Children are so vulnerable in today's world because of the dangers prevalent in society, but even in the natural world, it would take a miracle to save them from harm.

When the incident happened in 2003, the news did reach my corner of the world, so I was curious to see how the events panned out. It's a moving portrayal of the human spirit.

I watched this documentary thinking it's an amazing story of survival. I had no knowledge of this story and like all movies or documentaries when you come to watch it without any hype or expectations often you are surprised.

It is all the other stories behind the story that makes it special. The documentary tells the story in such a way that draws you in to all the politics and beauty of of humanity. Like all good documentaries it reveals the story in small gold nuggets to keep you surprised.

Absolutely brilliant. I am sure it will be made in to a Hollywood movie one day. You couldn't write this, stranger than fiction.

The problem with this documentary is that the story itself has enough drama to make an excellent documentary but that the director wants to make more out of it . From moment one the story is filled with unneccessary details like showing animals, soldiers in a studio with camouflage, grannies screaming in a megaphone and poor acting by script. Totally unneccessary, so that you loose focus on the main thing, the Incredible rescue of the 4 children. What remains is an unsatisfying documentary over a dramatic event which deserved much more than this poor execution from a director who finds his creative extra's more important the the story itself.

This is a story about the rescue operation for the Colombian children how got lost after the plane crash in the Amazone forest.

But it tells another relevant story, the story of the indigenous people. And how they were treated for decades. A story about how unbelievable and important their knowledge of the jungle is. And that is would be impossible to find the children without that knowledge.

It even raises the question if the children wanted to be found by the soldiers who were looking for them, because of the past and because of themselves being indigenous.

This is a relevant documentary which shows you how important it is to keep our bond with nature and that true knowledge goes so much deeper than the knowledge we have in our western society and which we think is superior, because it is not.

Go see it!

Not intriguing & quite boring. It ralked way too much about the rescuers. I kept thinking "who cares about that, just talk more about the children" Maybe I'm being cruel, but seriously yawned 10 times watching it. It was also distracting because it was a voiceover. Obviously the people in it didn't speak English so they did a voiceover on top of their native language. Too many voices at once and not pleasant to listen to. Frankly, I watched the first 45 minutes then fast forwarded to the end because it dragged on. I understand the children went through a lot and remarkably survived, but it literally just focused on the rescuers lives. 0/10.

For a documentary called The Lost Children it barely acknowledges them and the filmmakers definitely never spoke to them. This was more about the tensions between the Indigenous population and the military and it doesn't even give much insight into that. The kids are a total afterthought. I learned more about how the children survived from headlines than this story tells.

Overall this feels like the first draft of a story. It meanders around and has no idea what it wants to be about. It skims the surface of a few topics, glosses over some others (like what was up with the dad?) and fully ignores some stuff (why did the plane crash?).

The Lost Children (2024) is documentary but, they did not mentioned it. I did not find anywhere it is mentioned that it is a documentary. I only give it stars more than my wish because it is based on true story! Otherwise i would give it really down star! I do not know if it my fault that i started to watch it thinking it is a film because, so many people's on Google rating it so high. By the way i did not like it so much. I did not found it so much interesting! But, in my perspective it is good and recommended only because it is based on true story.

19 December 2024 Watched H Dubbed On Netflix.

The Lost Children is a documentary that tells an unbelievable story about survival. The narrative is compelling, shedding light on the resilience of these young individuals caught in extraordinary circumstances. The filmmakers clearly did their research, and the subject matter has immense emotional and historical weight.

However, the documentary suffers from serious pacing issues. At one and a half hour, the story could have been told far more effectively in a tighter runtime. Many scenes feel unnecessarily drawn out, and the inclusion of overt military propaganda detracts from the film's focus on the children's experiences. These segments not only feel out of place but also dilute the emotional impact of the story by shifting the spotlight away from the central narrative.

While The Lost Children is worth watching for its core message, it could have been a far stronger film had it maintained a sharper focus and avoided the unnecessary detours. It's a story that deserves to be told-but with better editing and a more balanced approach.