This is a very well written and produced documentary, with very credible scientific testemonials and what appear to be good, honest people. Except from that FRAUD on episode 3 which is just a shameless fraud, prying and exploiting people's vulnerabilities. And what a bad ventriloquist she is. Quite ridiculous.
If the show aimed at validating these phenomena including that ridiculous part was bad. Too bad.
120 Reviews
Only watch the first and last episode
LukeCustomer22 January 2022
Like a lot of Netflix series this was packed with filler. The first episode and the last were actually interesting. The first deals with near death episodes and the last with reincarnation. That last was most amazing to me. I had never heard of such apparent evidence with regard to reincarnation. The middle of this documentary is sort of sad filler.
I want to like it, but...the physical medium stuff is ridiculous
kellybethga27 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I guess you must weed out what's possibly real and what's bogus. The physical mediumship is completely unbelievable. She claims she's taken over by spirits but despite having higher/lower/child voices, they all have her accent! The supposed historical evidence such as wax molds is also not believable; what the man describes as a child's hand and foot could easily be mine; I'm a small female. I hope it gets better. Came here to see if I'm the only one who doesn't buy this and I'm not alone.
Finally!
kristi23746 January 2021
I have been waiting for a good documentary about NDEs. This one started off well with Mary Neal, and I am so happy to see that they have shown clips of DNE pioneer, Raymond Moody. I cannot wait to finish this docuseries. I am beyond excited!
Update: Started strong and it went downhill from there. What a waste. They should have focused solely on NDEs.
Update: Started strong and it went downhill from there. What a waste. They should have focused solely on NDEs.
Skip second and third ep and the rest is amazing
mxbxl11 January 2021
Great Show - w/some off points
qb-9467511 August 2022
LOVE LOVE LOVE this series. I hope thay make more seasons.
My only complaint is they lost focus when they turned the show into one not about life after life- but about ONE particular medium. ?? What was THAT about?
I might add not a very interesting medium either. Not a shot at the lady's personality just perhaps the way they filmed it or what they asked her. And while I'm not denying her abilities - that fake child voice is laughable. Perhaps not the best way to introduce ppl to mediumship?
It doesn't make sense why they spent SO much time on this one particular medium instead of exhibiting some of the masses of information on life after life experiences and the scientific data about it. Or even cultural ideas about it.
Hopefully they will regain focus and explore what ppl are watching the show to learn.
My only complaint is they lost focus when they turned the show into one not about life after life- but about ONE particular medium. ?? What was THAT about?
I might add not a very interesting medium either. Not a shot at the lady's personality just perhaps the way they filmed it or what they asked her. And while I'm not denying her abilities - that fake child voice is laughable. Perhaps not the best way to introduce ppl to mediumship?
It doesn't make sense why they spent SO much time on this one particular medium instead of exhibiting some of the masses of information on life after life experiences and the scientific data about it. Or even cultural ideas about it.
Hopefully they will regain focus and explore what ppl are watching the show to learn.
SKIP THE MEDIUMS. The other episodes are interesting.
michele-231-43276216 January 2021
That. Dutch. Medium. Or, how to make a fool of yourself for the world to see. While her voice is high-pitched for "little Tommy" and guttural for Freda, they still have Dutch accents, LOL. Not to mention that the "communication" she shares are taken right off social media and Google.
Episode 1 and the last episode are the best.
billmanjd13 January 2021
Give (some of it) a try!
katelcarmona20 January 2021
Like most people have said, skip episodes 2 and 3... too much focus on possible frauds. I was the biggest nonbeliever in all of this before I had my own experience about 5 years ago. Even if you don't believe in all this, you have to admit it's interesting. Give it a try!
Skip the Mediums and Maybe Benefit from the Rest...if interested.
AJ_McAninch26 February 2021
I have lost the most important person in my life, the love of my life, but I can tell you that he is definitely "there" and tries to communicate. I can feel him and his love: he doesn't need a "medium." I am the one who's not very good at communicating spiritually, so I watched this out of sincere interest but also with a healthy skepticism. The first episode is interesting and hooked me a bit, and the last ones after the clearly dubious mediums. But I will continue to search elsewhere.
I think most of the bad reviews are from people who never made it past the third episode.
upton123410 January 2021
I found this series truly inspiring. I went from being terrified of death both from the standpoint of my own death as well as the standpoint of losing somebody close to me and I can honestly say that I feel a bit better about both now. I found the second half of the series much more interesting. each episode explores one facet of death which obviously is going to hit the mark with some people and not others. .
A divisive and disappointing mixed bag overall...with equally disappointing reviews.
dstncl8 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
So this series was bound to be controversial right from the premise. This show deals with various topics I have researched myself, such as NDEs, ADCs, Verified Reincarnation cases, Deathbed Visions etc. But unfortunately the documentary also focuses to heavily on more dubious 'evidence', such as mediumship and ghost hunting which is difficult to take seriously. There is skepticism (no idea why some are claiming there isn't unless they simply weren't paying attention), just not self-identified skeptics. But despite this, the skepticism isn't consistent throughout. Overall, the only episodes I'd recommend are the first, fourth, fifth and sixth, but even the fourth and fifth ones aren't as well-researched or presented as they could have been.
But what baffles me more are some of the ignorant and blatantly biased reviews from people on here who a) aren't familiar with these more legitimate topics yet fancy themselves scientific experts and b) haven't watched MOST of the documentary, let alone all of it! Giving the entire documentary 1 star after only watching two of the SIX episodes seems a bit flawed to me, especially when you can't actually give a proper explanation of why the ENTIRE series warrants 1 star.
However, I simply cannot rate this higher than I have due to the glaring flaws in the content and execution.
When watching the series, keep these things in mind:
1. Don't pretend that there aren't legitimate scientists and doctors involved in at least the first episode who are seen as experts in their fields. Just because they have conclusions and beliefs that don't agree with yours, doesn't mean you can dismiss them. Their involvement in this series shouldn't taint their reputations because of fallicious 'guilt by association' thinking. And no, they aren't 'pseudoscientists', especially when you look into their backgrounds and realise some of them actually started out as total skeptics of stuff like NDEs and Deathbed Visions. In fact, one of them has even contributed to more skeptical literature at times, and another criticises the use of past life regression therapy.
2. Yes, there ARE skeptical points raised. Albeit briefly, which was a bit of a drawback. If more focus was given on these refutations, then perhaps more people would have payed attention to when, in the NDE episode, they give examples of WHY it isn't just 'drugs in the brain' or hypoxia/anoxia. Just because there aren't self-identified 'skeptics' doesn't mean there isn't skepticism.
3. This series evidently isn't designed to be comprehensive and so should encourage further research into the topics that are the focus of the best episodes (which most agree are the ones on NDEs and Reincarnation). There are many more doctors and scientists interested in these studies than just the ones featured in this documentary, most of whom are well-aware of the skepticism, such as the overblown and SPECULATIVE DMT theory, which has at the time of writing this review has not been proven at all and has been grossly exaggerated as 'scientific'. You can find plenty articles explaining why.
Regardless of what some skeptical scientists who have barely looked into the topic or done any studies of their own say-in contrast to those who HAVE studied them for many years and some of whom are featured in this documentary-SOME of these phenomena are/have not so easily 'debunked'. Take some time to do more research before jumping to conclusions and consider that both the supernatural and neurological explanations can be flawed. And really? Borderline slanderous accusations that some of these people or academics who have had experiences or have studied them in-depth are just 'in denial' or 'liars'? Really? I can see that for the mediumship and ghost hunting stuff of course, but there comes a point where it sounds more like conspiracy thinking when, for example, hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are estimated to have NDEs.
Ignoring the shady and even laughable stuff on mediumship and ghost hunting, and the documentary is at least decent. There's some pretty good editing and recreations in here of testimonies or personal accounts for example. It can be a bit cheesy at times, but not too bad. The less scientific content does NOT invalidate the rest of the more scientific content in this series however. I do hope viewers will be smart enough to, when coming away disappointed, at least recognise that you can't dismiss absolutely everything in this documentary when clearly more effort was put into some episodes than others.
If you're a militant atheist who has already made up their mind and already knows what to expect. then this won't convince you so don't bother. And don't, for the love of God (no pun intended), just rate this low because it contradicts your beliefs. This series feels inconsistent in effort in trying to give a more balanced take. It didn't need to include mediums and ghost-hunting lumped in with more credible experiences, because then how can someone new to this be expected to take it seriously?
Does this documentary provide definitive evidence or hard proof? No, of course it doesn't. This is actually admitted a few times, including in the first episode. But it should have treated this subject with greater caution, even if they weren't (according to the director) necessarily trying to win people over or change their beliefs completely.
Edit: And people continue to prove my point. For example: no, they do NOT say a flat ECG means brain death. They say how the brain is 'not functioning' in these states, which does NOT mean total brain death.
But what baffles me more are some of the ignorant and blatantly biased reviews from people on here who a) aren't familiar with these more legitimate topics yet fancy themselves scientific experts and b) haven't watched MOST of the documentary, let alone all of it! Giving the entire documentary 1 star after only watching two of the SIX episodes seems a bit flawed to me, especially when you can't actually give a proper explanation of why the ENTIRE series warrants 1 star.
However, I simply cannot rate this higher than I have due to the glaring flaws in the content and execution.
When watching the series, keep these things in mind:
1. Don't pretend that there aren't legitimate scientists and doctors involved in at least the first episode who are seen as experts in their fields. Just because they have conclusions and beliefs that don't agree with yours, doesn't mean you can dismiss them. Their involvement in this series shouldn't taint their reputations because of fallicious 'guilt by association' thinking. And no, they aren't 'pseudoscientists', especially when you look into their backgrounds and realise some of them actually started out as total skeptics of stuff like NDEs and Deathbed Visions. In fact, one of them has even contributed to more skeptical literature at times, and another criticises the use of past life regression therapy.
2. Yes, there ARE skeptical points raised. Albeit briefly, which was a bit of a drawback. If more focus was given on these refutations, then perhaps more people would have payed attention to when, in the NDE episode, they give examples of WHY it isn't just 'drugs in the brain' or hypoxia/anoxia. Just because there aren't self-identified 'skeptics' doesn't mean there isn't skepticism.
3. This series evidently isn't designed to be comprehensive and so should encourage further research into the topics that are the focus of the best episodes (which most agree are the ones on NDEs and Reincarnation). There are many more doctors and scientists interested in these studies than just the ones featured in this documentary, most of whom are well-aware of the skepticism, such as the overblown and SPECULATIVE DMT theory, which has at the time of writing this review has not been proven at all and has been grossly exaggerated as 'scientific'. You can find plenty articles explaining why.
Regardless of what some skeptical scientists who have barely looked into the topic or done any studies of their own say-in contrast to those who HAVE studied them for many years and some of whom are featured in this documentary-SOME of these phenomena are/have not so easily 'debunked'. Take some time to do more research before jumping to conclusions and consider that both the supernatural and neurological explanations can be flawed. And really? Borderline slanderous accusations that some of these people or academics who have had experiences or have studied them in-depth are just 'in denial' or 'liars'? Really? I can see that for the mediumship and ghost hunting stuff of course, but there comes a point where it sounds more like conspiracy thinking when, for example, hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are estimated to have NDEs.
Ignoring the shady and even laughable stuff on mediumship and ghost hunting, and the documentary is at least decent. There's some pretty good editing and recreations in here of testimonies or personal accounts for example. It can be a bit cheesy at times, but not too bad. The less scientific content does NOT invalidate the rest of the more scientific content in this series however. I do hope viewers will be smart enough to, when coming away disappointed, at least recognise that you can't dismiss absolutely everything in this documentary when clearly more effort was put into some episodes than others.
If you're a militant atheist who has already made up their mind and already knows what to expect. then this won't convince you so don't bother. And don't, for the love of God (no pun intended), just rate this low because it contradicts your beliefs. This series feels inconsistent in effort in trying to give a more balanced take. It didn't need to include mediums and ghost-hunting lumped in with more credible experiences, because then how can someone new to this be expected to take it seriously?
Does this documentary provide definitive evidence or hard proof? No, of course it doesn't. This is actually admitted a few times, including in the first episode. But it should have treated this subject with greater caution, even if they weren't (according to the director) necessarily trying to win people over or change their beliefs completely.
Edit: And people continue to prove my point. For example: no, they do NOT say a flat ECG means brain death. They say how the brain is 'not functioning' in these states, which does NOT mean total brain death.
Laughable Mediumship episodes
markasey-162-45609117 January 2021
The medium having "Tommy"- the "10 year old boy" speak through her was just embarrassing. She sounded like a Mr. Rogers puppet voice telling the poor people who paid her everything she read on their Facebook pages (and none of the the pre-determined code words, of course). I get wanting to believe but that episode was just comical!
Amazing first and last episode only
alexissouquet13 January 2021
I wanted to love the entire show so much. The first episode was so amazing and inspiring. The last episode truly blew my mind and completely change my beliefs. Now, unfortunately all the episodes in the middle made this show loose credibility and were far from the level of the first and last episode. They really didn't need to be there. They should only have done a 2 episode season.
Don't forget, some of us are sane and have experienced what's in this show
sammillertx10 January 2021
Ok whoever reads this who filmed this, you nailed so many things. Thank you. The first episode nailed several items that were absolutely true. The medium episodes bother me for personal reasons and I don't think they were needed. I never believed in previous lives until I saw them for myself. Most importantly is that I learned that there is a support environment for people like me who have "seen it." All I found were weirdos in 2015 when it would have been so helpful to find normal people who just needed to find a way to experience the now. I learned that so many other people know that what I saw and the people I met were absolutely not "visions." "dreams." The net is that I want to tell whoever created this show - thank you. You missed a few things. You missed the incredible humor and laughter on the other side. But thank you for doing something that was true and not fake and was marketable enough to end up on netflix.
The reincarnation episode alone makes going through the painful 2-part mediums episode worth the wait
tiaanb-1867327 April 2022
Every episode is good except the 2 medium ones. The Dutch lady felt so disingenuine and scammy, doing bad voice impressions and slightly adjusting the words she used, telling people 2 basic details extracted from a Wikipedia page and then basically saying 'if you don't believe me you're a hater'. The reincarnation episode was brilliant, so interesting to see stories of uninformed children talking about past lives.
I would recommend you give this series a shot, form your own opinions but skip the mediums episode if you feel it's hard to watch.
I would recommend you give this series a shot, form your own opinions but skip the mediums episode if you feel it's hard to watch.
I wanted to like it
darrell_lines7 January 2021
I did go into this with some high hopes and the first episode did show some promising signs. However, into the second and third episode it fell apart. When it got to the part when they started talking about Ectoplasm, there was absolutely no scientific evidence presented and, I was hoping they would look at both signs of the coin, previous experiences and empirical fact, but never got there.
Shame really, as it could have really shown different aspects and maybe opened up to more sceptical people.
Shame really, as it could have really shown different aspects and maybe opened up to more sceptical people.
Skip the Seance
charitysanders-1224230 July 2022
Ignore episodes 2 and 3
gaelhillyard21 May 2021
Other people said it better than me re the mediums episodes. Embarrassing to watch and very sad to see people potenially exploited so horribly. Also the NDE woman in episode 1 did not feel authentic. Someone who has had that experience I am sure would have rather more humility. It is ok to have enough respect for the consultant to called her by her name but the woman who cares for her child is only referred to as 'the nanny'.
But episode four Signs was truly hearbreaking. I felt so much for the parents of all the children, especially Elijah's mother and I kept waking up the night after watching it hoping she would have some comfort. I felt she in some way blamed herself (I really do not know why I felt that) but I found myself sending prayers that she is able to let this feeling go so that she can receive the signs she is seeking.
The ghost episode was fun and the reincarnation one was interesting. But do ignore episodes 2 and 3!
But episode four Signs was truly hearbreaking. I felt so much for the parents of all the children, especially Elijah's mother and I kept waking up the night after watching it hoping she would have some comfort. I felt she in some way blamed herself (I really do not know why I felt that) but I found myself sending prayers that she is able to let this feeling go so that she can receive the signs she is seeking.
The ghost episode was fun and the reincarnation one was interesting. But do ignore episodes 2 and 3!
No serious insight
RobMuro7 January 2021
A previous reviewer hit the nail on the head with one question: "where are the critical questions?"
Perhaps I raised my own expectations too high, but this felt far too much like tabloid journalism. Interviews felt coached to deliver one liners and spin stories that create an atmosphere of "I want to believe" rather than "could we prove/debunk this?"
Any scientific interest is reduced to pseudoscience in an atttempt to prop up the assumptions being made, so all hope is lost if you really want to learn something new or interesting about near death experiences or the possibility of life after death.
If, on the other hand, you do just want to kill an hour hearing people's dramatic experiences, you could enjoy the first episode.
Perhaps I raised my own expectations too high, but this felt far too much like tabloid journalism. Interviews felt coached to deliver one liners and spin stories that create an atmosphere of "I want to believe" rather than "could we prove/debunk this?"
Any scientific interest is reduced to pseudoscience in an atttempt to prop up the assumptions being made, so all hope is lost if you really want to learn something new or interesting about near death experiences or the possibility of life after death.
If, on the other hand, you do just want to kill an hour hearing people's dramatic experiences, you could enjoy the first episode.
Incredible
TomatoMourn8 January 2021
I made an account simply to review this. I thought this was an incredible alternative look on how we view the world and something that is greatly needed in our current world. Although some moments may seem highly farfetched I appreciate the amount of disbelievers that were spoken to in it and as a viewer I never felt it was forcing me to believe something I didn't.
Other reviewers raised the question where is the science in all of this (which there is none)... but I believe it highlights areas that our current sciences can't touch on just yet, how can all the coincidences within this documentary be mere coincidence?
After watching all the episodes... I really just wanted more.
After watching all the episodes... I really just wanted more.
Some great ideas and investigations but....
smszewczyk24 February 2021
The "physically medium" part gets really ridiculous. in the first episode I think it's a real disservice to completely omit the scientific evidence of psychoactive substances that are released by the brain nearing death and some during childbirth too. These substances that are endogenous to the body have similar effects to common and psychotropic drugs. they cause things like in increasing body temperature (the warmth), reduction of stress (feeling of well-being), dissociation from the self and the body, and auditory and visual hallucinations. The life changing experiences these people describe from being near death sound really similar to the life changing experiences that may describe when they take hallucinogenic drugs. it changes your whole outlook on life. The reincarnation section at the end is very fascinating.
Don't Expect Scientific Pushback
helenahandbasket-937347 January 2021
The first episode sets you up to expect SO much more, and then jerks the rug out from under your feet. If only we could get filmmakers with integrity to look at this subject seriously, without preying on people suffering through heavy amounts of grief suffering delusions from their loss.
If you watch this purely from an objective, entertaining standpoint with little to no regard for scientific evidence and data, you'll get some entertainment from it, but still not enough to rank this higher than 3-4 stars.
Yet another disappointment from a Netflix documentary offering; at this point it's what most of us have come to expect.
If you watch this purely from an objective, entertaining standpoint with little to no regard for scientific evidence and data, you'll get some entertainment from it, but still not enough to rank this higher than 3-4 stars.
Yet another disappointment from a Netflix documentary offering; at this point it's what most of us have come to expect.
Skip mediums
duff-0812610 April 2021
Looking forward to more!
dragonflyadventours20 January 2021
I rated this a 9 out of 10 only because I did not find the Mediumship episode convincing (particularly The Dutch Lady). In areas of research concerning these topics, I don't want to be entertained, I want evidence.
All the other episodes were realistic and far more "thought provoking." I would like to see more investigations of children recalling their past lives, and when doing so, not waiting until their teen+ years to try and meet alleged family members from their described past lives. Do it while they are recalling it like James 3 & his wonderful parents did. This program was intriguing, endearing, even gripping at times. I'm very impressed with Leslie Kean and all the participants, and especially the parents who took the time to listen to their children, took the time & invested in investigating their child's dreams, memories, recollections and most importantly go to every length to validate their child's past life experience as well as the families of the deceased. Those parents are truly golden! I genuinely look forward to more!
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