Parents' Guide to The Lost Children

This extraordinary survival tale will captivate teens and their families. British director Orlando von Einsiedel is no stranger to telling tales of the secrets contained by the jungle; his Virunga is a masterclass in combining environmental awareness with socio-political commentary. Here he unites forces with directors Jorge Durán and Lali Houghton to tell a story torn from the headlines. In The Lost Children, we witness the miracles human beings can create when they work together toward a common goal.

The documentary is a narrative wonder that uses interviews and archival footage to explain how various groups that had historically avoided cooperating came together to find four kids whose plane crashed in the Amazon rainforest. We hear from members of the search crew, including military members, journalists, and Indigenous elders, all of whom summoned technological and spiritual forces to deliver an unbelievable ending. Beyond the incredible history being told, the documentary is worth it if only to see how the filmmakers explain how the children survived in the jungle. Using elements that seem pulled out of a fairy tale, they craft one of the most wondrous moments of any film released recently.