With award-winning hits like13thandMy Octopus Teacher,Netflixhas more than proven itself when it comes to producingeffective, informative, and captivating documentaries. Recently released by the streaming service,The Lost Childrenis yet another impressive film that joined their collection of real stories about real people. Following a tragic plane crash in the Colombian rainforest, the movie gives a detailed account of the search and rescue efforts to find four child-passengers who survived and disappeared into the jungle before it was too late.
Collaborative directors Orlando von Einsiedel, Jorge Duran, and Lali Houghton reflect the documentary’s focus on Colombian military members and local indigenous people working together to save the kids despite the social and political conflict between them. However, by highlighting the search instead of the children’s point of view, the filmomits essential detailsof their 40-day survival that leaves audiences with an incomplete story and unsatisfying ending.
The Lost Children
The True Story Behind ‘The Lost Children’
In May 2023, Magdalena Mucutuy and her four children, Lesly (13), Soleiny (9), Tien (4), and Cristin (11 months), got on a flight headed to San José del Guaviare to visit the kids' father/stepfather.While flying over the Amazon Rainforest in Colombia, the plane’s engine completely failed. Unfortunately, all three adult passengers, including the pilot and Magdalena, perished after impact.
Quickly, local indigenous people used their lived knowledge of the jungle to locate the crash site. When officials in charge of search and rescue efforts discovered nearby footprints, fruit with bite marks, and suitcases that were rummaged through,they realized the children werenot only still alive, but wandering through the jungle alone. Thus,Operation Hopebegan.
For the next 40 days,the Colombian military teamed up with indigenous people who knew how to traverse such a dangerous environment to find the children before illness, starvation, injury, or worse fates took them away for good. Over 100 units were spread across sectioned areas around the crash site where they determined the children could be. Megaphone messages played and pamphlets were thrown over the trees from helicopters instructing the kids to stay where they were and let them know help was coming. Indigenous search teams also trekked the jungle by foot, yelling the children’s names and trying to recreate their path.
After over a month into the search with nothing to show for it, the troops were relieved and evacuated. However, the indigenous people kept pushing on without losing hope. After engaging in a local ritual through ayahuasca, a psychedelic used to contact their deity Yagé, as a last resort,they located the kids the following day. Although they were severely malnourished and in need of immediate medical attention,all four children miraculously survived.
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Netflix Leaves Out Search and Rescue Dog, Wilson
Shortly after the film’s release, audiences who were familiar with the story through news coveragevoiced disappointment at one nearly-absent detail:Wilson, a Belgian Shepherd search and rescue dogworking with the military. The documentary does include Wilson in its narrative. However, it only vaguely mentions his help and disappearance a couple of times. Evidenced by the children’s recollection and artwork of events,Wilson was not only the first to make contact with them, he kept them company for a period of time.
Unfortunately, Wilson also went missing before search teams were able to locate the children. After the kids were fully rescued, government officials began looking for Wilson as well. Heartbreakingly, following two weeks of searching and using female dogs in-heat to draw Wilson to them,they were unable to recover the animal. Army General Pedro Sanchez was saddened to inform the public during a news conference in Bogotá that they had “done absolutely everything” they could to find Wilson, but considering the amount of time passed without any signs of him, locating the dog was “practically unlikely” at that point.
The Lost Childrendoesn’t leave Wilson out of the story entirely, butviewers aren’t happy that his successful hunt and mysterious ending wasn’t properly addressed or praised.No one knows what exactly happenedto Wilson. Nonetheless, the film glosses over his story. Additionally, the end-credit dedication fails to show him respect by including him along with the three plane passengers who didn’t make it out of the rainforest either.
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The Documentary Focuses on Community
Besides a brief voiceover of Lesly’s survival story towards the end,The Lost Childrenmainly shows the perspective of those searching for her and her siblings. The film is structured through interviews with the children’s relatives, Colombian search and rescue officials, and the brave indigenous locals who worked with an enemy governmental state to help. It goes through each moment they experienced during the terrifying ordeal, telling the emotional story ofpeople coming togetherdespite long-lasting conflict for a noble cause.
The rivaling groups took each other’s advice on the best ways to find the kids, and even nursed search members who fell ill due to the jungle’s poor conditions.Their teamwork, regardless of tension towards each other, is an aspirational message of unity being a crucial ingredient to human progress and success.
Overall, Netflix’sdocumentary gives interesting insight into the methods used to locate the missing children, the turmoil of their family, volunteers, and country, as well as the necessary trust between warring Colombian locals and military members. However, thefilm feels unfinished.It leaves out key aspects like Wilson and his efforts, and doesn’t go into detail about the plane crash itself or how the children were able to survive for so long. But if viewers are looking for a gripping story about people putting their differences aside to do what’s right,The Lost Childrenis a perfect watch. They may just have to do a little more research into the real story after it ends.The Lost Childrenis now streaming on Netflix.
